On Thursday, August 19, 2021, 14 patients filled the Critical Care Unit at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center in Grants Pass. Each was suffering from COVID-19. Each needed a machine to breathe. None has been vaccinated., and few will leave the unit alive. The surge of patients suffering from COVID-19 has caused Asante to double the number of beds in some rooms in the CCU, according to Laura Magstadt, RN, vice-president of nursing at the facility.

“I think the hardest thing is having a patient that is alert and oriented, and he knows he is not going to make it,” said Sadie Emond, a nurse in the CCU. “Right now we are doubling up on patients in ICU rooms. I've been here for a long time and never seen anything like it, Emond said.