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Sean Kolmer
EDLUND Tina * GOV; BLOSSER Nik * GOV
Hargunani Dana; Allen Patrick; Rebecca Hultberg
OAHHS letter
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 2:41:26 PM
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Face Covering - OAHHS letter to Gov. Brown FINAL.pdf

Please see the attached letter for the Governor. Thank you for your continued leadership during this
work. Please feel free to share with the Medical Advisory Panel and let us know if you have any
question or if we can be of assistance.
 
Thank you.
 
sk
 
 

Sean Kolmer
Senior Vice President of Policy and Strategy
Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems
Mobile: (503) 351-0838   www.oahhs.org
 

Assistant: Nancy Hinrichsen  

 
 

  (503)- 479- 6028

 May 6, 2020
Honorable Governor Kate Brown
Office of the Governor
900 Court St NE
Salem, OR 97301
RE: Social Responsibility for Mitigating the Spread of COVID-19
Dear Governor Brown,
Thank you for your work to date in managing the COVID-19 outbreak in Oregon. Your early action
at a critical juncture requiring Oregonians to stay home to save lives did just that. We are at another
key point in this crisis, as Oregon makes plans for recovery from the health and economic effects of
the COVID-19 pandemic. New daily confirmed cases are hovering at a steady level rather than
decreasing as they were for several weeks. This puts us in a precarious position as we begin to
reopen the state. Hospitals and health systems strongly support reopening business and public life,
but it is critical to do so carefully and cautiously. As Oregon considers reopening, it will be
important to gradually relax public health policies, replacing them with measures that are less
restrictive but still limit the virus’s spread. We believe this is the path to restarting our economy
now and keeping our businesses open over the long-term.
As part of reopening, we urge you to consider a plan to encourage the public to wear face coverings
to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. This is critical in all locations where people gather. As you
consider reopening businesses and other places where people gather, we believe you should
require face coverings in these settings as an element of statewide guidance on reopening. Face
coverings help protect vulnerable populations and serve as important visual cues to encourage
physical distancing and other best practices critical to mitigating the spread of COVID-19. We ask
you to consider appropriate actions necessary to maximize use of face coverings by all people over
the age of 2, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
We know that as stay-at-home restrictions are eased, COVID-19 will be transmitted in the
community and the likelihood of disease spread will increase. We want to keep Oregon open and
safe. Everyone has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 as public life reopens.
Wearing face coverings should be foundational to any business opening where people will be
gathered, indoors or out. While it might be tempting to selectively apply this principle to situations
where physical distancing is impossible to maintain, such as hair salons, it is difficult to maintain
safe distancing in many other businesses, especially grocery stores and ‘big box’ retail. Applying a
universal precaution removes the burden of a difficult decision from the retailer and adds an
element of security for the shopper. We must act today based on the best available science,
recognizing that we are learning more every day about the disease and its transmission.

 Thank you for considering strong actions on face coverings. We look forward to further dialogue.
Sincerely,

Becky Hultberg, President/CEO