REGION
Saturday, August 21, 2021
East Oregonian
A3
Lifeways employees to join CCS
Lifeways to retain at
least three of its facilities
in Umatilla County
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — At least 60
former Lifeways employees are
joining Community Counseling
Solutions when the county’s new
mental health and substance abuse
provider begins its contract this
fall.
The new staff will be working
for the Heppner-based provider by
Dec. 1, when CCS’ contract with
Umatilla County begins, according
to Community Counseling Exec-
utive Director Kimberly Lindsay.
Several other employees are on
the fence but may end up working
for CCS, Lindsay said, adding that
the employees transferring over
worked in outpatient behavioral
health services.
That’s more than half the
employees Lifeways has said would
be laid off this fall, according to a
Worker Adjustment and Retraining
Notifi cation — or WARN — sent
to the county board of commission-
ers and the Oregon Employment
Department’s Dislocated Worker
Unit on Aug. 13.
The WARN notice stated layoff s
“may come in stages” between Oct.
13 and Nov. 30, adding “layoff s
may be earlier or later in that time
frame, again depending on the
transition to the new provider.”
Lindsay said it’s unclear
whether this means employees
could be without work prior to join-
ing CCS on Dec. 1. She said Life-
ways offi cials previously told her
employees in the county wouldn’t
be laid off until Nov. 30.
“If I were an employee of Life-
ways, and I knew I was going to
be picked up by CCS Dec. 1, and I
read that, I would wonder if I was
going to be laid off work for six
weeks or seven weeks,” she said.
When asked about the gap,
Lifeways Chief Executive Offi-
cer Tim Hoekstra said in an email
the provider planned to send the
WARN notice in July, but “at that
time CCS had not had substan-
tive conversations with Lifeways
employees in Umatilla County for
the purpose of providing an intent
for employment.”
He then added Lifeways sent
the notice in mid-August “as we
still did not have a comfortable
level of confi rmation that CCS had
committed to a suffi cient number
of employees.”
“We are very pleased that CCS
has responded positively to our
recommendations to shore up staff
through those letters of employ-
ment intent and accompany us at
our facilities to conduct meet and
greets,” he said.
The Ontario-based provider,
offi cials have said, employed more
than 120 people in the county, most
of whom are county residents.
Hoekstra said Lifeways plans to
retain some of its facilities, includ-
ing Aspen Springs in Hermiston,
McNary Place in Hermiston, and
Westgate House in Pendleton.
“ Lifeways continues to be
invested in the well-being of the
whole of Umatilla County,” he said.
As for Lifeways’ eight other
facilities in Umatilla County, Lind-
say said CCS will acquire some of
them and will possibly lease some
facilities owned by Lifeways.
However, Hoekstra said: “There
are no specifi c plans for any of
those building as of yet.”
Among those facilities is the
old St. Anthony Medical Office
Building in Pendleton and some
of the surrounding land near
1601 S.E. Court Ave. Lifeways
acquired that property in Octo-
ber 2019 for $1 million, according
to news reports.
Lifeways, which served the
county for more than 16 years,
lost its contract in May when the
county went out for a request
for a proposal, seeking a new
provider that would cover both
mental health and substance abuse
services. The county awarded that
contract to CCS in late-May.
IN BRIEF
County reports seven
COVID-19 deaths this week
Jedidiah Maynes/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
A crash involving at least two vehicles stops traffi c on Highway 11 north of Milton-Freewa-
ter Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021.
Details emerge on violent
Highway 11 collision
By JEDIDIAH MAYNES
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
MILTON-FREEWATER — Details have
been released on a brutal head-on collision
that involved two children last week on
Highway 11 north of Milton-Freewater.
According to Oregon State Police, all
four people in the crash were transported
to hospitals in the crash that shut down the
busy highway for about four hours Aug. 12.
OSP Sgt. Jeremy Gunter investigated the
crash. He said the fi rst 911 call came in at
12:09 p.m.
Gunter said the preliminary investi-
gation determined a 2001 blue Honda
Accord driven by Antonio Garcia, 42, of
Milton-Freewater, crossed from the south-
bound lanes into the northbound lanes near
the highway’s intersection with East and
West Crockett roads.
Gunter said there is no offi cial cause of
the crash, but “preliminary indications are a
medical issue could have been a contribut-
ing factor” for Garcia’s swerve into oncom-
ing traffi c.
Garcia’s car entered the path of a 2013
maroon Ford Taurus driven by Maria
Guadalupe Lara Lara, 29, of Milton-Free-
water. There were two children in her car —
a 3-year-old child and a 1-month-old baby.
Garcia suff ered “severe injuries,” Gunter
said, and was taken to Providence St. Mary
Medical Center in Walla Walla before being
fl own to Providence Sacred Heart Medical
Center, Spokane. A message was left with
hospital representatives for Garcia’s condi-
tion.
Lara Lara and the two children in her car
suff ered unspecifi ed injuries and were taken
to St. Mary Medical Center. The hospital is
not releasing conditions of patients at this
time.
Gunter said OSP offi cers were assisted
by the Milton-Freewater Police Department,
Milton-Freewater Rural Fire Department,
Umatilla County Sheriff ’s Offi ce and the
Oregon Department of Transportation.
PENDLETON — Umatilla County
reported seven COVID-19 deaths this
week, setting the county’s pandemic record
for deaths reported in a single week.
In addition, the county identifi ed three
COVID-19 deaths previously reported by
other counties that were Umatilla County
residents. That raises the county’s overall
death toll to 106 since the pandemic started.
The county’s 104th reported victim is
an 80-year-old woman who tested positive
Aug. 4 and died Aug. 13 at CHI St. Anthony
Hospital, Pendleton. She had unspecifi ed
underlying health conditions, the county
reported Aug. 19.
The 105th victim is a 47-year-old man
who tested positive July 14 and died Aug. 14
at Adventist Health, Portland. He, too, had
unspecifi ed underlying health conditions.
The 106th victim is an 80-year-old man
who tested positive Aug. 3 and died Aug.
5 at Oregon Health & Science University,
Portland. As of Aug. 20, the county had yet
to determine whether he had underlying
health conditions.
The disclosures comes as the county
reports 104 new COVID-19 cases on
Aug. 20. Cases are so far lower this week
compared to previous weeks, which set
various pandemic records for cases counts
and infections rates as hospitals fi lled due
to the delta variant tearing through Oregon.
But at 341 reported cases so far this
week, daily counts remain higher than
previous pandemic surges, and far higher
than rates seen just more than a month ago.
In all, 10,987 COVID-19 cases have been
reported in Umatilla County. Nearly one
out of every seven county residents have
contracted the virus since the pandemic
started in March 2020.
Port of Morrow announces
SAGE Center expansion
BOARDMAN — Less than a decade
into its existence, the SAGE Center is
getting an expansion.
In a Thursday, Aug. 19, press release,
the Port of Morrow announced it was start-
ing development on the 12,500-square-foot
Cultural Alliance and Training Center
at SAGE as an expansion to the existing
museum. The expansion is focused on
providing venue space.
The project is being funded from a $4.3
million appropriation from the Oregon
Legislature passed during the 2021 session.
The SAGE Center opened in 2013 and is an
interactive museum dedicated to the local
agriculture and energy industries.
— EO Media Group
Hermiston council votes on bridge analysis
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The
Hermiston City Council at
its meeting Monday, Aug.
23, votes to consider helping
fund an engineering analysis
to evaluate the pros and cons
of two potential Umatilla
River bridges west of Herm-
iston, according to a press
release from the city.
The council meeting starts
at 7 p.m. at the Hermiston
Community Center, 415 S.
Highway 395, Hermiston.
The city of Hermiston
in 2001 identified the two
optimal road extensions
and bridge locations: Elm
Avenue and Punkin Center
Road. A preliminary engi-
neering report will identify
which location best fi ts the
transportation, economic
and environmental needs of
the region.
The city council will vote
on whether to sign a memo-
randum of understanding
with Umatilla County and the
city of Umatilla to fund the
study. All three entities have
been engaged in the process
because the bridge will bene-
fi t development and transpor-
tation for the entire region,
according to the press release.
The West Highland
Avenue bridge at Riverfront
Park is the only Umatilla
River crossing in Hermis-
ton, leading to increasingly
concentrated traffi c on High-
land, Southwest 11th Street
and the Westland/Bridge/
Powerline corridor.
“As our area’s population
and workforce grows, vehicle
traffi c will increase with it,”
said Mark Morgan, assistant
city manager. “Planning now
for additional future connec-
tions will lay the ground-
work for continued positive
residential, commercial, and
industrial growth across the
region.”
The preliminary engi-
neering report will provide
cost estimates and concep-
tual designs for both cross-
ings, with the hope of
identifying a preferred
option. The next step will be
to locate state and/or federal
funding for the construction
of the bridge within the next
10-20 years.
The meeting will be lives-
treamed on the city’s website
at www.hermiston.or.us,
which also has links to the
city council meeting agenda
and more.
Don’t miss out on the 2021s!
$ 750 Customer
Cash
ON A NEW 2021 VENZA, RAV4,
HIGHLANDER & HIGHLANDER HYBRID
HIGHLANDER
HYBRID
HIGHLANDER
VENZA
RAV4
TOYOTA.COM
See Your Local
Toyota Dealer
*
Prototypes shown with options. Extra-cost colors shown. Cash back from Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc. on select
models of the new 2021 Venza, RAV4, Highlander, or Highlander Hybrid from participating dealer’s stock and
subject to vehicle availability. Offer excludes RAV4 Hybrid models. Varies by region. Cannot be combined with TFS
APR Cash, TFS Lease Cash, APR, Lease, APR Subvention Cash, Lease Subvention Cash. Offer available in AK, ID,
MT, OR, WA regardless of buyer's residency; void where prohibited. Does not include College Grad or Military
Rebate. Expires 9/7/21. See your participating Toyota dealer for details. ToyotaCare covers normal factory
scheduled maintenance for two years or 25,000 miles, whichever comes first. Certain models require a different
maintenance schedule as described in their Maintenance Guide. 24-hour Roadside Assistance is also included for
two years, unlimited mileage. Roadside Assistance does not include parts and fluids, except emergency fuel
delivery. See Toyota dealer for details and exclusions. Valid only in the continental U.S.