LOCAL/REGION
2A — THE OBSERVER
TuESday, MaRcH 23, 2021
Today in Locals examine UK’s government health care
History
By DICK MASON
The Observer
Today is Tuesday, March 23, the
82nd day of 2021. There are 283
days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN
HISTORY:
On March 23, 1775, Patrick
Henry delivered an address to the
Virginia Provincial convention in
which he is said to have declared,
“Give me liberty, or give me death!”
ON THIS DATE:
In 1792, Joseph Haydn’s
Symphony No. 94 in G Major (the
“Surprise” symphony) had its first
public performance in London.
In 1806, explorers Meriwether
Lewis and William clark, having
reached the Pacific coast, began
their journey back east.
In 1919, Benito Mussolini found-
ed his Fascist political movement in
Milan, Italy.
In 1933, the German Reichstag
adopted the Enabling act, which
effectively granted adolf Hitler
dictatorial powers.
In 1942, the first Japanese-amer-
icans evacuated by the u.S. army
during World War II arrived at an
internment camp in Manzanar,
california.
In 1965, america’s first
two-person space mission took
place as Gemini 3 blasted off with
astronauts Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom and
John W. young aboard for a nearly
five-hour flight.
In 1973, before sentencing
a group of Watergate break-in
defendants, chief u.S. district Judge
John J. Sirica read aloud a letter he’d
received from James W. Mccord
Jr. that said there was “political
pressure” to “plead guilty and
remain silent.”
In 1993, scientists announced
they’d found the renegade gene
that causes Huntington’s disease.
In 2001, Russia’s orbiting Mir
space station ended its 15-year od-
yssey with a planned fiery plunge
into the South Pacific.
In 2003, during the Iraq War, a
u.S. army maintenance convoy was
ambushed in Nasiriyah; 11 soldiers
were killed, including Pfc. Lori
ann Piestewa; six were captured,
including Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who
was rescued on april 1, 2003.
In 2004, a federal commission
concluded that clinton and
Bush administration officials had
engaged in lengthy, ultimately
fruitless diplomatic efforts instead
of military action to try to get
Osama bin Laden before the 9/11
attacks; top Bush officials countered
that the terror attacks would have
occurred even if the united States
had killed the al-Qaida leader.
In 2010, claiming a historic
triumph, President Barack Obama
signed the affordable care act, a
$938 billion health care overhaul.
Ten years ago: academy
award-winning actor Elizabeth
Taylor died in Los angeles at age
79. NaTO ships began patrolling
off Libya’s coast as airstrikes, mis-
siles and energized rebels forced
Moammar Gadhafi’s tanks to roll
back from two key western cities.
a blast blamed on Palestinian mil-
itants ripped through a bus stop
in Jerusalem, killing a 59-year-old
British tourist, and wounding two
dozen other people, including
five americans. army Spc. Jeremy
Morlock pleaded guilty at his
court-martial at Joint Base Lew-
is-Mcchord in Washington state
to the murders of three unarmed
afghan civilians (he was sentenced
to 24 years in prison).
LA GRANDE — Oppo-
nents of the drive to get a
single-payer government
health care system estab-
lished in the United States
often argue that patients
in nations with national-
ized health care must wait
long periods for doctor
appointments.
This is not the case
in the United Kingdom,
which has a single-payer
system, according to
Wayne Hill of England.
Hill discussed the UK’s
National Health Service
system with representa-
tives of the Union County
chapter of Health Care
for All Oregon on Friday,
March 19, via a Zoom
conference.
Hill, speaking from
England, said waiting
time is not an issue in
the United Kingdom. He
said everyone who needs
to see a doctor can do so
promptly.
“The waiting list is
determined by the level of
urgency,” said Hill, who
grew up in California and
has lived in England for 30
years.
Hill also said if people
cannot get an appointment
as soon as they want to,
they often can by checking
back to see if openings
were created by patient
cancellations.
“If you stay in touch you
can get an earlier appoint-
ment,” he said.
When there are longer
waits for appointments,
Hill said, they are often
for less urgent procedures,
including those related to
the need for hip and knee
replacement operations.
Hill is the brother
of Vivian Young of La
Grande, who is a member
of the Union County
chapter of Health Care
for All Oregon, which is
striving to help Oregon and
the United States change to
a single-payer health care
system.
Hill said he is impressed
with the level of care he
receives in England.
“It is very satisfactory
for me,” the writer and
artist said.
Hill said doctors tend to
meet with patients six or 12
minutes at a time. He said
physicians listen intently to
their patients.
“They are very caring,”
he said. “There is a real
sense of compassion.”
He said everyone in the
United Kingdom is eligible
for NHS care, even those
who are just visiting.
“If you are here you can
get care,” Hill said.
The system, though,
does have shortcomings.
For example, it is harder to
get scans for skin condi-
tions, said Hill’s wife, Lynn
Relfe, who also grew up in
California. She said some
doctors in the UK view
skin issues as more of a
cosmetic issue. Relfe noted
she has small growths on
her skin as a result of sun
exposure while growing up
in California. Hill said after
she drew this to the atten-
tion of dermatologists in
the UK she had no trouble
getting appointments for
skin scans.
Relfe noted doctors in
Great Britain see fewer
skin conditions related to
sun exposure because the
United Kingdom receives
less sunshine than many
other places.
Hill said national health
care became apparent
during World War II
when children were often
sent to rural areas where
they would be safe from
German bombing attacks.
It was then that it became
evident that many children
were growing up in impov-
erished circumstances.
“It created a domestic
awareness of what people
need,” he said.
Great Britain’s National
Health Service was estab-
lished in 1948, three years
after World War II.
Hill noted NHS doc-
tors and staff are so highly
regarded that Great Brit-
ain’s government sparked a
controversy recently when
it provided them with a 1%
pay increase. He said many
believe they deserved much
more, especially because
of what they have been
put through due to the
COVID-19 pandemic over
the past 12 months.
“There is national out-
rage,” he said.
Physicians and other
health care workers, Hill
said, are revered.
“They are our real
heroes,” he said. “They
have been stars.”
Emotions run high at sentencing
of Anthony Montwheeler
Family members
speak out during
proceedings
By PAT CALDWELL
Malheur Enterprise
Oregon department of Fish and Wildlife/Contributed Photo, File
This March 13, 2014, file photo shows a female wolf from the Minam
Pack outside La Grande, after it was fitted with a tracking collar. a
mortality signal from a similar collar led to the discovery of five dead
wolves in union county in February 2021, according to law enforce-
ment authorities.
Five wolves found dead
in Union County
Associated Press
SALEM — Five
wolves were found dead in
Northeast Oregon in Feb-
ruary, according to law
authorities.
On Feb. 9, a collar on a
wolf indicated a mortality
signal in the Mt. Harris
area in Union County,
Oregon State Police Capt.
Timothy R. Fox said in an
email on Friday, March
19, when asked about it by
The Associated Press.
Arriving officers found
a total of five wolves dead,
Fox said. The cause of
death is unknown, he said.
All five carcasses were
taken to the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife forensic lab to
determine the cause of
death, the email said.
The incident is under
investigation, according to
Oregon Fish and Wildlife
spokeswoman Michelle
Dennehy.
“This is very unset-
tling news for a species
that is only just beginning
to recover in Oregon,”
Kathleen Gobush, North-
west program director at
Defenders of Wildlife,
said in a news release.
“Predators, particularly
wolves, are often the
target of ruthless perse-
cution, and the killing of
one wolf, not to mention
five, appears to follow a
growing pattern of grave
concern. Defenders of
Wildlife will continue to
work to make Oregon safe
for people and wolves.”
No further information
was released.
VALE — Anthony
Montwheeler sat in clean
street clothes with a fresh
haircut and stared straight
ahead Friday morning,
March 19, as more than
a dozen people delivered
statements at his sentencing
at the Malheur County
Courthouse.
The session was the final
chapter of a four-year-long
legal case that began in the
early morning hours of a
cold, overcast January day
in 2017.
The former Nampa,
Idaho, man pleaded guilty
Feb. 26 to second-degree
murder, first-degree man-
slaughter and third-degree
assault.
Montwheeler stabbed to
death his ex-wife, Annita
Harmon, killed Vale res-
ident David Bates, and
injured his wife, Jessica, in
a head-on crash as he fled
police.
Under terms of the plea
deal reached earlier this
year, Montwheeler will
serve a life sentence for
killing Harmon but be
eligible for parole in 25
years — when he is 78.
But he would have to serve
another 10 years of the
20-year sentence he has
agreed to for Bates’ death.
He would also get a three-
year sentence for injuring
Jessica Bates, to be served
as part of the overall
sentence.
While there was an
undercurrent of anger from
the relatives of David Bates
and Harmon, a major theme
from many of the speakers
was one of forgiveness.
“All I can do is pray for
your tormented soul,” said
Lucas Faverau, Annita Har-
mon’s son.
Stacey Harmon-Roeber,
Annita Harmon’s older
sister, said, “I have no words
of anger toward Tony. “God
loves Tony as much as he
loves me.”
Harmon-Roeber told the
court her kid sister was a
“precocious, tow-headed,
brown-eyed girl that loved
to tease us.”
“I remember how she
loved horses and animals.
I remember special sister
time when she was little,”
said Harmon-Roeber.
Harmon-Roeber said,
however, that Montwheel-
er’s crimes terrorized her.
“I used to be fearless.
Now I am a fearful redhead.
I have anxiety. I don’t sleep
at night,” she said.
At one point Har-
mon-Roeber began to weep.
“I wonder what her body
felt when he stabbed her. I
hate I wasn’t there to protect
her,” she said through tears.
Jessica Bates also wept
when she spoke.
“It is obvious you caused
a huge amount of hurt and
loss. It still feels surreal,”
Bates said.
“I want you to know
that I forgive you. I really
do hope this will give you
pause to stop and seek
God,” she said.
Bates told the court she
“never in a million years
dreamed I’d be married to
someone so wonderful and
have five children.”
“I didn’t want to lose
David so early,” she said.
After the testimony
from the families, Dave
Goldthorpe, Malheur
County district attorney,
told the court that “there is
no punishment under the
laws of the state of Oregon
harsh enough for Anthony
Montwheeler.”
“No amount of time
in prison could ever even
come close to making
these families whole after
what he did to all of them,”
he said.
Goldthorpe called Mont-
wheeler “evil.”
“He is abusive,” he
added. “He is a horrible
human being and his face
should never be seen by any
of these good people who
have spoken to you today.”
Montwheeler gave a brief
statement at the end of the
sentencing.
“I can’t express the right
words of sorrow. I have
caused so much pain. To
say I am sorry isn’t nearly
enough,” Montwheeler said.
Preparing for possible trouble in downtown Minneapolis
Autumn Swiger-Harrell, who grew up in Baker City, works in a hospital near the building where Derek Chauvin is on trial
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
MINNEAPOLIS —
Autumn Swiger-Harrell
isn’t involved in Ameri-
ca’s most notorious cur-
rent criminal trial, but she
only has to step outside
her workplace to see its
effects.
That step
is necessary
because ply-
wood tempo-
rarily blocks
the windows.
Swiger-
Swiger-
Harrell
Harrell,
who grew up in Baker
City and graduated from
Baker High School in
1993, works as a physician
assistant in the emergency
room at the Hennepin
County Medical Center in
downtown Minneapolis.
The hospital is about
three blocks from the
building where jury selec-
tion is continuing in the
trial of Derek Chauvin.
Chauvin is a former
Minneapolis police officer
accused of murder and
manslaughter in the May
25, 2020, death of George
Floyd.
Floyd’s death, which
came after Chauvin had
pressed his knee to Floyd’s
neck for about nine min-
utes, prompted a series of
protests and riots in Min-
INSIDE
For more about the jury selection
in the derek chauvin homicide
case, see Page 7A.
neapolis and many other
American cities that con-
tinued for several months.
In anticipation of
demonstrations and poten-
tial violence during and
after Chauvin’s trial,
officials in Minneap-
olis have installed barri-
cades and boarded up win-
dows at many buildings,
including the hospital
where Swiger-Harrell has
worked for the past year
and a half.
She said workers on
Monday, March 8, put ply-
wood over the windows at
the emergency department,
which is on the ground
level.
“That’s the big-
gest thing at this point,”
Swiger-Harrell said in a
phone interview on Friday,
March 12.
She said the plywood
so thoroughly blocks the
natural light that it’s a
perpetual nighttime in
the emergency room.
Swiger-Harrell said hos-
pital officials plan to invite
local artists to paint murals
on the plywood.
Swiger-Harrell moved
autumn Swiger-Harrell/Contributed Photo
Plywood protects the windows at the emergency department of the Hennepin county Medical center in down-
town Minneapolis. Former Baker city resident autumn Swiger-Harrell works there, three blocks from where jury
selection is continuing in the trial of derek chauvin, a former police officer facing charges in the May 25, 2020,
death of George Floyd.
to Minnesota from Baker
City four years ago with
her husband, Aaron Har-
rell. The couple have
two children, a daughter,
Trinity, and a son, Teagan.
The family lives in
Stillwater, Minnesota,
a town on the St. Croix
River near the Wisconsin
border, about 25 miles
from downtown Minne-
apolis. Swiger-Harrell said
she commutes to the hos-
pital and leaves her car in
a parking structure that’s
part of the hospital com-
plex and uses an under-
ground walkway to get to
the street.
“I feel pretty secure,”
she said.
The Chauvin trial isn’t
the first event that has led
to tighter security in the
emergency room where
Swiger-Harrell works.
Last summer, while the
protests and riots were hap-
pening nearby, she said she
helped treat patients with
injuries including gunshots
and tear gas inhalation.
The hospital, which is
a Level 1 trauma center, is
the nearest medical facility
to the area where many of
the demonstrations hap-
pened, Swiger-Harrell
said.
She said it was strange
to work while National
Guard soldiers stood in the
emergency department.
The soldiers also trav-
eled with ambulance
crews, she said.
Workers erected fencing
around the emergency
entrance, and there was no
damage to the hospital last
summer, Swiger-Harrell
said.
Thus far during the
trial, with testimony not
slated to start until later in
March or early in April,
downtown Minneapolis
has been relatively tran-
quil, she said.
She said she drove by
the Hennepin County Gov-
ernment Center, where the
trial is taking place, on
Thursday, March 11, and
she saw about 10 people
holding signs.
Among the bigger
effects of last sum-
mer’s demonstrations
were freeway closures,
Swiger-Harrell said. Mul-
tiple times when her shift
ended around 1 a.m. she
had to find an alternate
driving route to get home.