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| Member Newsletter Fall 2021
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Welcome!
Thank you for your constant support! Umpqua Health Alliance (UHA) works hard to keep our members up to date on what’s going on in Douglas County as well as within our company. If you have any questions or have ideas for our next newsletter, please contact us by calling 541-229-4842 or email us at info@umpquahealth.com. To sign up for our Member Newsletter, please press Ctrl and click this link: https://signup.e2ma.net/signup/1907516/1716984/
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You can get this letter in another language, large print,
or another way that is best for you. Call 541-229-4842 (TTY 711)
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Umpqua Health News
Customer Care is closed for in person help, but we are open by phone, email, and fax.
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We have Face-to-Face meetings now available via Zoom!
Our Face to Face Orientation can be used to help new members learn more about their coverage through UHA. You can also schedule a meeting with us if you have questions about your coverage, but would like to meet someone face-to-face.
If you would like to schedule a meeting, please contact UHA Customer Care at 541-229-4842, or click the link on our website: https://www.umpquahealth.com/ohp/benefits/ and click the button that says “Zoom Meeting for Face to Face Orientation”.
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Beginning mid-October, all Bi-Mart pharmacies will be closing and will be transferring all prescriptions to Walgreens pharmacies.
- Currently, Umpqua Health Alliance (UHA) does not cover medications at Walgreens because they are not in our pharmacy network.
- This may change in the future, but we do not have additional information at this time. See the chart below for additional details and tentative closure dates for each Bi-Mart in Douglas County.
- If you are currently filling prescriptions at Bi-Mart, you will need to choose another pharmacy in our network. We have listed the nearest pharmacies in the chart below, but you can search for other pharmacies with our ‘Find a Pharmacy’ tool at https://www.physicianehs.com/searchPharmacy.cfm.
- You can also use Postal Prescription Services (PPS) Mail Order Pharmacy, (phone: 800-552-6694), to get your prescriptions delivered through mail.
- You can call the new pharmacy you would like to use and ask them to transfer your prescriptions or call your provider to ask them to send prescriptions to your new pharmacy.
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Healthy Habits
COVID Vaccination:
We wanted to remind you to get your COVID-19 vaccination if you haven’t already. Getting vaccinated can help prevent you and your loved ones from getting sick. Please help us protect our community and get one step closer to ending the pandemic.
COVID-19 vaccines are available at most pharmacies and clinics.
Drive-thru testing and vaccination is available 10/10 to 10/22 from 11am to 6 pm every day except Mondays at the County lot across Fowler Street from the library. For more information about the COVID-19 vaccination, you can visit www.safestrongoregon.org.
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National Epilepsy Awareness Month:
November is National Epilepsy Awareness Month. Epilepsy is a condition that affects many people. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, 1 in 26 people in the United States with develop epilepsy at some point in their lifetime.
First Aid for Seizures: Learning first aid for seizures is important for everyone.
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Here is what the Epilepsy Foundation has listed on their site for what to do if you see someone having a seizure:
- Stay with the person until they are awake and alert after the seizure.
- Time the seizure
- Remain calm
- Check for medical ID
- Keep the person safe.
- Move or guide away from har
- Turn the person onto their side if they are not awake and aware.
- Keep airway clear
- Loosen tight clothes around neck
- Put something small and soft under the head
- Call 9-1-1 if:
- Seizure lasts longer than 5 minutes
- Person does not return to their usual state
- Person is injured, pregnant, or sick
- Repeated seizures
- First time seizure
- Difficulty breathing
- Seizure occurs in water
- Do NOT:
- Do not restrain.
- Do not put any objects in their mouth.
- Rescue medications can be given if prescribed by a health care professional.
Resources:
The Epilepsy Foundation has many tools available online to help:
- Learn about Epilepsy
- Manage your Epilepsy
- Get connected with Local Epilepsy Foundation chapters
- And much more!
If you would like to learn more about Epilepsy, you can learn more on the Epilepsy Foundation’s website: https://www.epilepsy.com/
Or you can call the Epilepsy & Seizures 24/7 Hotline at: 1-800-332-1000 (en Español 1-866-748-8008).
- This Hotline has trained experts on stand-by to answer questions about epilepsy and seizures. They can provide help, support, guidance, hope, and access to local and national resources.
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Child and Adolescent Well-Care Visits:
Umpqua Health is your partner in raising happy, healthy kids. A yearly check-up with your child’s doctor is important. Covid-19 has changed our lives in many ways. Helping you keep your family healthy and strong is important to us. We encourage you to contact your child’s doctor to schedule a Well-Care visit. The visit can happen in person, over the phone or on a video call. If you would like to know more, please visit our website:
If you need help finding your doctor’s contact information, please call UHA Customer Care at: - Phone: (541) 229-4842
- Toll Free: (866) 672-1551
- TTY: (541) 677-6038 | 711
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Trick-or-Treat Safety Tips:
In order to help keep your children safe during Halloween, the FDA has put together a list of Halloween safety tips:
- Choose costumes, wigs, and accessories that are fire-resistant
- If children are allowed out after dark, you can put reflective tape on their costumes/bags, or give them glow stick
- Choose non-toxic Halloween makeup, instead of masks. Masks can obscure vision.
- Always test the makeup in a small area first to see if any irritation occurs.
- Remove all makeup before children go to bed to avoid skin and eye irritation.
Making sure your children are visible while it is dark out is very important. According to Safe Kids Worldwide, children are more than twice as likely to be hit by a car and killed on Halloween than on any other day of the year. To help your children be safe, it is advised that you create a safety plan with your children. Your plan could include:
- A responsible adult going with small children through the neighborhoo
- If your children are going alone:
- Plan a route that is safe
- Agree on a specific time that your children should be hom
- Teach your children to never enter a stranger’s home or ca
- Teach your children to only go to familiar, well-lit area
- Teach your children to stay with their friends
- Teach your children to wait to eat any treats, until they return home, and avoid any food allergies
- Teach your children to pay attention to what is around them, and walk across streets instead of running.
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Pumpkin Colors to Bring Awareness to Health Conditions:
In recent years, there have been new inclusions to Halloween to help bring awareness to conditions. These health conditions can impact children, and the ways that they celebrate Halloween. Here is a small list of colors of pumpkins, and what they mean:
Teal Pumpkins:
Teal pumpkins mean an individual has food allergies. According to FARE, 1 in 13 children have a severe food allergy. The Teal Pumpkin Project was created as a way to have a safer, more inclusive Halloween for individuals with food allergies. Allergy friendly treats include non-food items, such as small toys, games, or stickers. You can put a teal pumpkin out on your porch to show that your home offers non-food treats, or put up a sign showing that you offer other options for children with food allergies.
You can find information on Teal Pumpkin Project on the FARE website: https://www.foodallergy.org/our-initiatives/awareness-campaigns/living-teal/teal-pumpkin-project
On their site, you can also find free Teal Pumpkin resources, such as signs that you can also hang outside of your home to show that you offer non-food treats.
Purple Pumpkins:
Purple Pumpkins started in support of children who have epilepsy, and to bring awareness to epilepsy. Often, Halloween can be concerning, because flashing lights can trigger seizures. You can place a purple pumpkin in front of your house to show that your house does not have flashing lights, and is safe for someone with epilepsy to trick-or-treat at.
You can find more information on the Purple Pumpkin Project on their website: https://www.epilepsy.com/make-difference/get-involved/purple-pumpkin-project
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Button Battery Safety:
With the holidays coming, many children are going to be getting new toys. Battery safety is important to your child’s health. According to the National Safety Committee (NSC), button batteries pose a risk to young, explorative children. Every year in the United States, more than 3,500 people of all ages swallow button batteries. They can be found in toys, electronics, watches, hearing aids, and even musical greeting cards. If swallowed or placed in the nose or ears, they can cause serious injury or death. Most button batteries pass through the body and are eliminated in the stool. However, sometimes batteries get stuck and these are the ones that can cause problems. Button batteries can get stuck in the esophagus and cause tissue damage or burns.
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Here are some tips that the NSC has listed on their site to protect your children and loved ones from the risks of Button Batteries:
- Look in your home for any items that might contain coin-sized batteries.
- These could include toys, games, electronics.
- You can check your child’s toys that contain batteries to see if the battery compartment is secure.
- Most toy manufacturers now require these compartments to have a screw to keep them closed.
- Whenever possible, select batteries in child-resistant safety packaging (for example, packages that have to be opened with scissors)
- Keep loose or spare batteries locked away
- Place devices out of sight and out of reach of small children.
- Be mindful of toys belonging to older children in the home that might contain button batteries
- Share this life-saving information with caregivers, friends, family members, and sitters.
If you suspect that someone has ingested a battery of any size or shape:
- Call the 24 Hour National Battery Ingestion Hotline: 1-800-498-8666
- Available 24/7/365
- Free advice
- Talk to trained nurses, pharmacists, and physician toxicologists
- 100% confidential
- If you can, provide the battery identification number, which can be found on either the package or from a matching battery
- In most cases, an X-ray must be done to see if the battery has passed through the esophagus into the stomach. If the battery remains in the esophagus, it must be removed right away.
- Do not induce vomiting. Do not eat or drink until the X-ray shows that the battery is past the esophagus.
- Report fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, or blood in stool immediately.
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Seasonal Affective Disorder:
Winter is around the corner, and with it can come the “Holiday Blues”.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, is a form of seasonal depression. Symptoms of SAD usually begin around the Fall or Winter, and gets better in the Spring time. People with SAD experience a variety of symptoms and mood changes that are very similar to depression.
If you would like to read more about SAD:
If you would like to get in touch with a provider, or need help finding a provider, please contact UHA Customer Care at 541-229-4842.
If you or someone you know is in immediate distress, or is thinking about hurting themselves:
- Call the National Suicide Hotline: 800-273-825
- You can also text the Crisis Text Hotline: HELLO to 74174
- Use the Lifeline Chat at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
- Call our Behavioral Health 24-Hour Crisis Line: 1-800-866-9780
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In our last issue of the Member Newsletter, we introduced you to Iris Healthcare. Umpqua Health is investing in the community through Iris’ Healthcare Empower Advance Care Planning platform. This is available to all Douglas County residents 18 and older regardless of whether you’re on UHA or not. Empowers goal is to improve the health and health care quality in our community.
- Empower helps people create care plans that helps them achieve their quality-of-life goals. They make sure that your care plans are followed by your providers to create a higher quality of care. Iris created this online application program to simply advance care planning. They offer supporting information and pre-populated documents to help guide you with your planning.
- Why do advanced care planning (ACP) if I feel great? The purpose of ACP is to create a care plan while you’re healthy in case something happens, and you can no longer speak for yourself.
- Similarly, to an advance directive, this plan helps make sure that you receive the care you want, and not worry about getting medical treatment you don’t want.
- If you would like more information about Iris’ Empower program, or to sign up, please follow this link: http://empower.platform.irisplans.com/link/xpmosben
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Medication Therapy Management (MTM):
The Medication Therapy Management (MTM) program helps members who use multiple medications to treat chronic diseases. Our UHA Clinical Pharmacy team provides MTM services to help our members get the most benefit from their medications as possible. If the pharmacy team or your provider thinks you would benefit from MTM you may be contacted by phone or mail. You may also request MTM services if you have a concern with one or more of your medications.
To sign up for MTM:
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Community Resources and Events
YMCA Childcare:
The Douglas YMCA provides state-licensed, safe, high quality childcare services. They strive to provide a nurturing environment for children. The YMCA is soon going to be offering childcare for younger ages, at a new site:
- Infant-Toddler: ages 0-
- Preschool: ages 2 ½ to 5 (must be toilet-trained)
There is limited space available.
If you would like to learn more, have any questions, you can find contact information on their website: https://www.ymcaofdouglascounty.org/childcare
On their site, there is contact information for their director, as well as an interest form for more information.
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Safari After Dark:
The annual Safari after Dark at Wildlife Safari is happening October 22nd and 23rd from 5-8 PM. Drive through the safari and experience the animals at night! There will also be trick-or-treating in the cheetah drive through and other areas.
You can get virtual tickets on their website, www.wildlifesafari.net
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Douglas County Christmas Craft Fair:
The Christmas Craft Fair is the largest event of this type to happen in Douglas County every year. It is the largest and most popular Christmas Fair in Southern Oregon. 300+ crafter booths display a wide variety of hand crafted items. You can find things such as clothes, home décor, baked goods, spices, soaps, and so much more.
The Christmas Craft Fair is expected to happen this year, on December 3-5, from 10 am to 8 pm.
- Admission is $5 for adults ($1 off with canned food donation)
- Kids 12 & Under are fre
- On Friday, December 3rd, you can bring canned food to get in for free!
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Did you Know?
Complaints or Concerns:
Are you having a hard time getting the services you need? Are you having problems with your provider or their office staff? We are here to help you. You have the right to tell us about any complaint you are having with your care. You can file a grievance (complaint) and we will look into it for you. You can tell us about issues with:
- Access to Care
- Interactions with Provider
- Interactions with Plan
- Consumer Rights
- Quality of Care
- Quality of Service
- Client Billing
This is our process to help you:
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Denied Services or Payments:
Have you received a letter letting you know a service or payment has been denied? You can ask us to change our decision. This is called an appeal. You can file an appeal in writing or over the phone. Your provider, or someone you ask, can also help you. You must let us know within 60 days from getting the letter. You can keep getting the service if you ask us within 10 days and if you meet all the criteria. If the denial is very serious, you can ask for a fast review. This is called an expedited request. If your service is still denied, you can ask for a hearing within 120 days.
This is our process to help you:
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We can also help your complete forms or make accommodations for you.
Contact information if you want to file a grievance or an appeal.
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Kids Corner
Leaf Rubbing: Mixing art with science!
Leaf rubbing is one way to learn about the different parts of the leaf! As you create leaf prints, you can talk to your children about the different parts of the leaf. You can also tell them about what each part does for the leaf.
What you will need:
- Paper: You can try different kinds for different results:
- Regular paper
- Wax paper
- Parchment pape
- The Blogger who made this post also tried pressing leaves with aluminum foil
- Something to draw/color with. You can try:
- Crayons
- Pencils
- Colored Pencils
- Oil pastels
- Or anything that you can use to color with!
- Leaves:
- You can try many different shapes and sizes of leaves.
The best part about this is you can find most of these items either for free outside, or from Dollar Tree, if you do not have them around the house.
Here is how you can do it:
- Take your leaf, and put your paper on top of it.
- Holding both down, use your drawing tool, and lightly color on top of the paper where the leaf is.
- This works really well if you use old crayons that no longer have the paper on them
- You can use the side of the crayon to “rub” the top of the paper where the leaf is.
- Continue coloring until you are happy with the results.
Here are some ideas for art you can make with leaf rubbing:
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While you make your art, you can talk to your children about the different parts of the leaves, and what they do. Here are some questions that your children might have:
- Why do plants have leaves? Leaves help the plant make its own food. They take sunlight, water, chlorophyll and carbon dioxide to make food for themselves.
- Why is a leaf green? Leaves contain chlorophyll, which has a green pigment. Chlorophyll helps plants make their own food by using sunlight.
- Why do leaves change colors? Because of the changes in daylight and temperature, the leaves stop making food. The chlorophyll goes away, and the green color disappears.
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Watercolor Spider Web Craft:
As Halloween gets closer, making a watercolor spider web is a spooky craft that you can do with your children.
Here is what you will need:
- Crayons
- Watercolor paints
- Paintbrushes
- A cup of water
- Paper (you can use different kinds
- You can try using regular paper, coffee filters, paper plates. Get creative and try different kinds!
- Salt (optional)
Here is how you do it:
- Take your paper, and, using a white crayon, draw a spider web. You can make it any way that you like!
- You will want to make sure your crayon is drawn on thick, for best results.
- Using different colors of watercolor, paint on top of your paper, however you wish.
- The wax in the crayon repels water, which will reveal your spider webs
- This is optional, but if you would like, while the paint is still wet, you can sprinkle salt on top for a crystal-like effect.
- Once it is dry, if you like, you can draw a spider on your web!
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Here are some examples of what it could look like when it is done!
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