Lincoln County Joint Transportation Committee: Connections to care
By Diane Rodriquez
It all started with $2,000 – money
to help seniors and people with
disabilities find transportation to medi-
cal appointments and health services in
Lincoln County.
Kitty Bushman, chairman of the
Lincoln County Joint Transportation
Committee (LCJTC) and a director of the
North Lincoln Health District, and Cynda
Bruce, transit program director of the
Lincoln County Transportation Service
District, shared the details of how this
combination of agencies helps people get
where they need to go.
“Pat Constance, a parish nurse, came
to my office. She was concerned about
barriers to medical access in this area,”
said Bruce. “Seniors and disabled individ-
uals were having trouble getting around.”
Constance also was on the health
district board – and an initial connection
between transit and health was born. In
2018, LCJTC received a $5,000 grant
for transportation via bus tickets from
the Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution
Fund. It received the same in 2016. These
grants run through the North Lincoln
Health District.
Overall, LCJTC has received $16,000
from the charitable fund since 2013.
The tickets are given to health care
providers to distribute as needed for
people to use Lincoln County transit
system buses to get to appointments and
other health services, which can include
completing tests, picking up prescriptions
and obtaining mental health services.
“We try to be flexible. Someone may
need to get medical supplies or a flu shot,”
said Bruce. “They may need food for nour-
ishment, which can be a medical need. We
don’t want to limit it so much that people
can’t get their health care needs met.”
Bushman explained that LCJTC also
uses $5,000 annually from each of the two
hospitals (Samaritan North Lincoln and
Pacific Communities) to provide for other
transportation.
“The joint committee gives money to
people who need taxi rides or gas cards
($25 vouchers or cards); this goes through
the foundation at both hospitals,” said
Bushman. “This also includes discharge
planners at the hospitals and also the
finance person at the hospitals can ask
for assistance.”
Bruce cited the example of a man who
contacted her office because he needed to
go to Corvallis for appointments. She sug-
gested this program could get him there
and maybe he could stay at the Pastega
House. He didn’t think that would work,
she said, because he had a little dog and
couldn’t leave it alone at home.
He eventually stayed a couple of times
while someone cared for the dog. He went
back and forth, eventually completing his
treatment.
“I didn’t recognize him when he
called. I got the tickets together, delivered
the tickets to him because there wasn’t
enough time to mail them. Turned out he
was someone who had previously worked
with my daughter at a Lincoln County
business,” said Bruce.” It was awesome to
give him services, give transportation to
someone who had worked hard all his life
and needed some help now.”
When asked for final comments about
this program, both women chimed in,
almost completing each other’s sentences.
Photo by Diane Rodriquez
Cynda Bruce (left) and Kitty Bushman
Bushman: “The program is something
that people need to be more aware of, that
there is help out there for them.”
Bruce: “Without this program, medi-
cal costs would increase because people
wouldn’t take care of themselves as well.”
Bushman: “Being able to go to the
doctor’s office instead of letting some-
thing go and ending up in the emergency
room. Talk to providers if you need help
getting places. Contact the foundations
for specific rides.”
The foundations can be reached at
the following:
North Lincoln Hospital Foundation
541-996-7102
Pacific Communities Health District
Foundation
541-574-4745
Courtesy photo
Aurora Carmona (left) and Sharon Edenfield attend Sen. Ron Wyden’s Town
Hall meeting at the Lincoln City Cultural Center on Jan. 5.
Courtesy photo
Allison Cook and her daughters, Eden and Eva
Cook graduates from Tribal Home
Visiting Program
Election Deadlines
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Feb. 2, 2019
In-person voting – Tribal election, Tribal
Community Center, Siletz
4 p.m.
Feb. 2, 2019
Deadline for returning absentee ballots
Congratulations to Allison Cook, recent graduate of the Siletz Home Visiting
Program. Cook entered the program in January 2016 just weeks before the birth of her
daughter, Eden, and graduated January 2019 when Eden turned 3.
During the course of those three years, Cook and her partner experienced many
life events, including moving, surgeries, a job change and the birth of another child.
Yet through it all Allison remained calm, supportive and engaged as a mother.
When asked what she valued most from participating in the Siletz Home Visiting
program, Cook said “It reinforced my parenting skills. Helped to know I am doing it right.”
February 2019
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Siletz News
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