PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The head of a rural Oregon hospital is calling for restrictions to be eased. Charlie Tveit is the CEO of the Lake Health District in Lake County, which is in south-central Oregon.

“It’s a beautiful area. It’s one of the most remote places in the state,” said Tveit.

His public health organization has had zero coronavirus patients, but its business was cut 60% when it halted elective procedures. It just got $4 million from the federal government to help cover costs, but that’s only a short term solution.

“We think it’s important the government consistently look at whether it makes sense to open up and try to get back to some form of business as usual,” said Tveit.

From the beginning of the crisis, when Governor Kate Brown put in blanket social distancing orders, she’s been concerned rural Oregon hospitals with limited resources could be easily overwhelmed.

“I was very deliberate in created statewide policy that would protect the health safety of Oregonians in every single corner of the state,” said Brown when she gave the stay-home order last month.

But Tveit thinks one size doesn’t fit all for rural Oregon, and we’re approaching a point where hospital services could be brought back. He said it might be done county by county, or done based on the coverage areas of health care organizations.

“The public needs our health care services. We want to do it in a safe fashion. We want to do it in a thoughtful fashion,” said Tveit. “How do we get there? We have a lot of smart people [who] can think through that, and that’s good for our entire economy.”

Tveit thinks any easing of the stay-at-home order would still need to have social distancing in effect in some way. KOIN 6 News asked for comment on Monday from the governor’s office, and this afternoon was told that Brown will hold a press conference on Tuesday to talk about ways to reopen parts of society — and elective procedures are one of those. A spokesperson said it’s not a process that will happen overnight, and those decisions will be based on science.