FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 17, 2020
WILDHORSE ANNOUNCES TEMPORARY CLOSURE
Mission, OR – Wildhorse Resort & Casino announced today that the casino is temporarily closing in order to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus in the region and allow employees to follow social distancing recommendations. The casino will close at noon on Thursday and will reopen on April 8.
The tower hotel will continue to operate allowing 100 rooms in a staggered pattern to be occupied; rooms in the Courtyard Hotel will not be available. The Children’s Entertainment Center, arcade, Sports Bar and Lobby Bar are part of the closure.
Wildhorse Golf Course, Arrowhead Travel Plaza, Mission Market, Hamley & Co, and the Golf Course at Birch Creek will remain open and all food service is limited to take-out only. Plateau will be closed.
This announcement follows a 48-hour closure earlier in the month of the main facility that houses the casino, hotel, Cineplex, restaurants and children’s areas. The time was used to deeply sanitize the building after an employee tested presumptive positive for COVID-19. Since then, no other employees of Wildhorse have tested positive for the virus.
“Wildhorse employees have done an outstanding job of maintaining a sanitary environment in which our patrons can play and eat, our guests can stay, and our staff can work,” said CEO Gary George. “But in order to do our part in protecting communities as a whole and to align with the recommendations of tribal, state, and federal governments, it’s necessary to take the difficult step of closing part of our facility for a limited time.”
While casino employees will be furloughed, other teams will continue to work on site. Social distancing and sanitary practices will be comprehensively managed.
This month, a COVID-19 Incident Command Center was established by the Board of Trustees of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) to centralize direction for the CTUIR government, Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center and Tribal enterprises during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is within this authority, and by adoption of the Oregon State Health Standards as enacted by Governor Brown, that this closure is fully supported.
As one of the largest employers in the region, the decision to partially close Wildhorse Resort & Casino was not an easy one. With nearly 1000 employees, the impact to the workforce is significant. In an effort to reduce the impact, Wildhorse will continue to pay the wages and medical benefits for its casino and resort employees affected by the closure through the end of the month.
About Wildhorse Resort & Casino:
Centrally situated between Boise, Spokane and Portland, Wildhorse Resort & Casino is a premier destination for family getaways, business meetings and large conventions. The resort features a 24-hour casino, hotel, RV Park, seven restaurants, a five-screen Cineplex, 18-hole championship golf course, travel plaza (for commercial trucks and private vehicles) and a tribal museum. Expanded in 2011, there is no destination experience like it in the Pacific Northwest. Wildhorse offers over 1200 slots, all your favorite table games, live keno, bingo and live entertainment Thursday-Saturday. Wildhorse is located just off I-84 at exit 216, four miles east of Pendleton, OR. Wildhorse is owned and operated by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
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