The fight against COVID-19 continues.
Providence caregivers continue to work hard to test, diagnose and treat patients throughout Oregon. Our researchers are seeking innovative ways to prevent and treat COVID-19.
You have stood beside us in amazing ways since we started fighting COVID-19 in early March - thank you! However, scientific experts predict the coronavirus pandemic may continue until there’s a proven and effective vaccine ... and Providence will be here through it all. Our communities will continue to rely on us, just as they have for more than 160 years.
The generosity of donors has made a difference in our fight against COVID-19. Your gifts allowed the purchase of specialized equipment needed for extremely sick patients, infusion pumps to deliver fluids, medications, blood and blood products to patients, blood pressure cuffs for pregnant women to use at home, and more. We are grateful for your support - read more about what you have provided in our COVID-19 Impact Report.
Will you make a gift today?
Father returns home after 299 days in Providence Portland Medical Center
Alejandro Castro contracted COVID-19 in December 2020. After spending 299 days at Providence Portland Medical Center, he went home. The 43-year-old Sandy man was on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, for 108 of those days, the longest time ever for a patient at Providence Portland.
FDA Approves Vaccine for Clinical Trial
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave Providence Cancer Institute researchers approval to begin a first-in-human clinical trial of a vaccine for protection against COVID-19.
The Providence vaccine is unique in that it incorporates immunotherapy expertise scientists have developed throughout three decades of cancer research at the Earle A. Chiles Research Institute. The trial will enroll 36 volunteers in the initial phase, and researchers are working quickly to open the study without delay. This COVID vaccine will be one of 18 in clinical trials in the U.S., and 45 throughout the world.
“We designed our trial with older adults in mind. By drawing on our experience in immunotherapy, our aim is to develop a vaccine that boosts the immune response to COVID-19 in older people,” says Rom Leidner, M.D., co-medical director, Providence Head and Neck Cancer Program, and the trial’s principal investigator.
The trial will be open to adults who have not been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and are in generally good health with no underlying diseases of the immune system. Researchers will initially test the vaccine in 36 people, half between 18 and 50 years of age, and half over the age of 50.
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Join the fight against COVID-19
Your gift today to one of the following areas will make a difference for all who need care.
COVID-19 Response
Research efforts to create a vaccine
Led by the lab of Bernie Fox, Ph.D., Providence Cancer Institute is using genetic research to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. Your support will help speed this research toward a solution for our communities.
ECMO machines
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machines provide heart and lung support to people with severe respiratory problems. Your gift would be a lifesaving investment during this time.
Operations support
Financial resources are critical to help pay for much-needed supplies and equipment and create additional infrastructure as we care for all during this and future emergencies, regardless of ability to pay.
Women and Children’s Health
Swindells Resource Center
Because of this extraordinary situation, all of our workshops have been canceled or postponed, leaving families without help. Your gift will create a virtual media center that allows families access to Swindells workshops and support materials from their homes, reducing possible exposure.
Center for Medically Fragile Children
The Center for Medically Fragile Children at Providence is currently under strict quarantine in order to keep these vulnerable children safe. This means not even family members can visit in person. Your support can keep these families connected through communication devices like iPads and other video conferencing technologies.
Blood pressure cuffs for pregnant women
We are moving as many prenatal visits to phone calls or telehealth appointments as possible. However, one barrier is the need to have blood pressure taken at home by women and reported back to their doctor. Your gift can purchase the BP cuffs to provide to women to safeguard their health and the health of their unborn baby.
Increased intensive care capacity
Over the past two years, the number of critical care patients we serve at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center has grown more than 15%, resulting in the Intensive Care Unit being at capacity more than 80% of the time. The increased use comes from serving more heart failure and stroke patients, but now, with the coronavirus outbreak, the need for additional rooms is urgent. Your gift will support the addition of 16 intensive care rooms. These new rooms will enable us to meet the increasing medical needs of our community’s sickest patients.
Helping Hand Fund to support our caregivers
Some of you want to support Providence caregivers who are on the front lines of caring for patients – thank you. Providence has a long history of caring for our employees, and during this epidemic we have added extra support for them and their families. If you would like to help our caregivers and their families offset the long-term economic effects of COVID-19, please consider donating to Providence’s Helping Hand Fund.
Nancy Lematta, longtime board member and friend of Providence, has made a generous gift of $2 million to aid in the fight against this disease. She hopes the community will join her in helping slow the spread of this deadly virus.
“I kept thinking what can I do to help? And I thought: I can give money. I hope it can make a difference."
Other ways you can help
In-kind donations
In addition to the giving options listed above, Providence is accepting in-kind donations of the following manufactured Personal Protection Equipment (PPE):
- Face shields (new, medical type)
- gloves in sealed boxes
- gowns in sealed bags
- masks
Providence is also accepting homemade masks:
- Use 100% cotton woven fabric for the face portion, such as quilting cotton, cotton flannel or cotton batik.
- Please wash and machine dry the fabric you intend to use to prevent from shrinking.
- If you, or someone in your home is sick with something contagious, please do not make masks until everyone is well for two weeks.
- Elastic ear loops or fabric ties are acceptable.
- Go here to review a video tutorial, get a pattern and instructions.
You may donate homemade cloth masks at any entry point at a Providence Medical Group clinic or hospital and at Providence Office Park Building 2 at the times listed below. Call the phone number listed to ensure a staff person will be available to assist you when you arrive.
Providence Office Park, M-F, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Security desk, Building 2 lobby
4400 NE Halsey St, Building 2 | Portland OR, 97213
Call 503-341-9647 to arrange a drop off.
Don't miss this tax benefit for 2021
The CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act passed by Congress in 2020 offers a tax deduction for everyone who makes a cash donation to charity* in 2020. The tax deduction for cash contributions was extended for 2021.
The CARES Act created a $300 “nonitemizer” deduction which was extended for taxpayers for 2021. And now, for 2021, twice the deduction or $600 for couples is available for those who file their tax return jointly. Therefore, if you DO NOT itemize, you can claim a deduction of up to $300 for single individuals and $600 for married couples for cash donations made in 2021.
If you DO itemize, the savings are even greater! Those who itemize can deduct cash donations to charity* up to 100% of their adjusted gross income.
*Not available for gifts made to donor advised funds, private foundations or support organizations
To learn more, call Lon Dufek at 503-595-3045 or email lon.dufek@providence.org.
Support Providence in your local community
Consider donating to the "area of greatest need" fund for your local Providence foundation. As our hospitals work to ensure they have enough supplies and equipment to support increased demand, we know foundation funds will help them. A gift to your local foundation can help care for an influx of patients as needs arise.
Click the buttons below to make a gift to the foundation of your choice.