Our COVID-19 Response

Dear Friends,

We hope you are all staying safe, taking care of yourselves and your families, and helping keep our entire community healthy by following the advice and guidance of experts and local authorities during this unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. We’re doing a number of things at North by Northeast that we want to let you know about.

First, we’re working to keep our patients and staff safe. Most of our staff are working from home in compliance with the stay at home order. We have converted all appointments to telemedicine to reduce risk of exposure for staff and patients. We have two staff members in the office every weekday keeping up with operational and fundraising needs and also fielding phone calls and responding to voicemails. Our Medical Assistant, Jessica, is staying in close touch with Dr. Jill Ginsberg, our Medical Director, and we are responding to all calls promptly - usually within an hour and always on the same weekday. We also are using an urgent voicemail system for patients to reach us after hours. We are getting calls from patients with concerns about coronavirus exposure and possible symptoms. Patients with acute illness are receiving frequent (often daily) calls from Dr. Jill for follow-up and support.

Second, we’re working to keep our patients and community informed. As a trusted community resource, we’re providing accurate, up-to-date information on COVID-19 to community members through social media, print advertising, letters and phone calls. Our Community Care Director, Sharetta Butcher, has been working through a list of all of our patients and reaching out to them by phone. She is offering reassurance and reiterating the public health messaging from our local experts. She is asking about needs such as medication refills or medical advice, then passing the baton to our clinicians to get these needs addressed. Dr. Jill and Jessica have also made hundreds of phone calls to patients at higher risk for developing a serious case of COVID-19 to check on them and provide guidance.

Finally, we’re working to advocate for our state, county, city and health systems’ responses to COVID-19 to be informed by racial equity. We’re asking those entities to include people of color and organizations with a racial equity focus in their decision-making, and we’re pushing back against efforts that are not informed by racial equity first and foremost.

We hope you’re staying healthy. While we’re separated from you by necessity, we need you now more than ever. This pandemic will take a significant toll on North by Northeast, and we need your donations. Every single dollar will make a difference. You can donate on our website HERE or send a check to our office at 714 NE Alberta Street Portland, OR 97211.

Thank you!