REGION
Tuesday, July 26, 2022
East Oregonian
A3
Good Shepherd receives funding for colorectal cancer kits
By ANTONIO
ARREDONDO
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The
Good Shepherd Health Care
System in Hermiston is one
of nine Oregon organiza-
tions to receive a grant from
Oregon Health & Science
University to address local
cancer-related needs.
T he OHSU K n ig ht
Cancer Institute’s Commu-
nity Partnership Program
awarded funding to Good
Shepherd to help with a new
project — one that aims to
increase colorectal cancer
screening rates.
In years past, Good Shep-
herd has sent out fecal occult
blood test kits, a preliminary
take-home test that aims to
identify those at risk for
colorectal cancer for those
between 50 and 75. Once
returned for lab tasting, these
test kits help individuals.
But Director of Community
Health and Outreach Jessica
Reker said returns have been
low.
“The return rate on (the
kits) was only about 10 to
15%,” she said.
With the test kits free
of charge, Reker and the
medical staff knew that cost
wasn’t an issue. Instead, they
needed patients to buy into
the program. Part of that was
shifting who provided infor-
mation.
With the funding, patients
now will learn about and
Good Shepherd Health Care System/Contributed Photo, File
Good Shepherd Health Care System, Hermiston, is one of
nine Oregon organizations to receive a grant from Oregon
Health & Science University to address local cancer-related
needs, OSHU announced July 13, 2022.
receive FOBT kits from
their primary care physician.
Before, they learned from other
medical providers that many
patients may not have known.
“The patient-provider
relationship is a very trust-
ing relationship,” Reker said.
“It just makes sense to utilize
it.”
While the focus of the
project is ultimately to
lower late-stage colorectal
cancer screening rates, the
way Good Shepherd hopes
to achieve that goal is to
increase education on the
matter. Using physicians that
know the patient could ease
tensions surrounding the
subject, increasing educa-
tion.
Along with education,
Reker and Good Shepherd
Community Health Educa-
tor Catherine Wisniewski
know there are extra hurdles
in Hermiston. With over a
quarter of the city’s popula-
tion having a Latino back-
ground, Good Shepherd is
including bilingual test kits
and interpreters.
“To ensure the approach
is socially and culturally
appropriate, GSHCS clinic
partners have bilingual and
bicultural staff available to
assist with this initiative,”
Wisniewski said in a press
release.
Per the terms of the
OHSU grant, Good Shep-
herd aims to have 60 FOBT
kits returned and 120 indi-
viduals educated, but it’s
shooting for higher numbers.
If those base numbers
are realized, though, the
prog ram can continue
long-term with funding
from OHSU.
Ombudsmen seek to advocate for local seniors Local defendants in
By ANTONIO
ARREDONDO
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — There
may not be very many long-
term care ombudsman in
the Pendleton area, but their
work assisting seniors does
not go unnoticed.
A long-term care ombuds-
man is a state-appointed,
certifi ed advocate for those
living in senior living facil-
ities. Allowed in the facili-
ties at any time, ombudsmen
around the state work to
elevate seniors’ voices.
Valerie Conner f irst
learned about the role while
at a library in Beaverton, and
the role struck a nerve. Her
father had spent time in an
assisted living facility while
suff ering from dementia, and
Conner saw how the people
had cared for her father and
her family.
“I said, ‘Hey, I want to be
there for other families like
they were there for ours,” the
four-year ombudsman said.
After completing training
to earn her certifi cation, she
worked throughout the Port-
land area, including time in
Tigard.
“I get to know the resi-
Julie Maw/Contributed Photo
Valerie Conner, left, meets with a resident. As a volunteer
long-term care ombudsmen, it is her job to advocate for se-
niors in assisted living facilities.
dents, enter the facilities, and
become a known advocate for
the residents,” Conner said.
Conner traveled through
the halls, meeting and getting
to know the residents face-
to-face. As an ombudsman,
she helped residents with
complaints, worked out solu-
tions and let staff know when
one of her residents was not
receiving proper care.
That all changed due to
the pandemic.
In 2020, Conner went
f rom seeing residents
throughout the week to not
being allowed on the prem-
ises due to health and safety
concerns. And when she and
her husband moved in 2021
from the Portland area to be
closer to her hometown, Pilot
Rock, it meant that Conner
was advocating for people
she hadn’t even met.
She still worked hard for
the seniors, though things
were conducted through
phone calls. After volun-
teering as an ombudsman in
Milton-Freewater, Conner
now spends time with resi-
dents in Pendleton, working
at McKay Creek Estates and
Willowbrook Terrace.
During one of the first
times Conner visited McKay
Creek, she saw the staff
decked out in Seahawks gear.
It turned out to be a sports-
themed day at the facility, an
event Conner said demon-
strated the level of care
patients received.
“People here are just
kinder,” Conner said, “If you
go to the cities, a lot of people
are new to the area, and don’t
know the residents. Here,
everybody knows every-
body.”
Conner is one of only two
ombudsmen in the Pend-
leton area and hopes that
many more locals can get
in on the experience. There
are not many in the profes-
sion in Eastern Oregon, and
many higher-ups are spread
thin trying to provide care for
seniors.
If you are interested
in becoming a cer ti-
fied ombudsman, contact
Ombudsman Volunteer
Recruitment Specialist Julie
Maw at 971-600-6149.
Hermiston students win bikes for reading
tests on the books.
When the schoolchildren
passed reading tests, they
entered their names into
drawings for free bicycles.
In total, according to
Hunt, a couple hundred
students were involved in the
contest. Each of the winners,
she added, each read at least
four books.
Hunt spoke of the gener-
osity of the Masons, but she
added they were not alone in
their kindness. The Hermis-
ton Police Department, too,
helped out, she said, as the
police donated money for
bicycles helmets.
“Every kid who won not
only got a bike, they got a
helmet as well,” Hunt said.
“We not only promoted read-
ing, but safety, too.”
The librarian called the
competition a success, and
she said it will be done again
next spring.
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — There
are a fair number of Hermis-
ton youths who are pedaling
through their neighborhoods
on new bicycles thanks to a
program that also encour-
aged them to read.
Miranda Hunt, a librarian
with the Hermiston School
District, said the district
partnered with the Hermis-
ton Masonic Lodge No. 138
on the program. It is, she
said, a partnership that has
existed for several years.
“Each year, the Masons
donate five bikes to each
elementary school,” she said.
“At the end of the school
year, we award the kids the
bikes based on a reading
competition.”
The bicycles went to
second through fi fth graders,
as done in previous years.
Hunt credited fellow
librarian Alyxandra Rowe
for adding a bit more fun to
this year’s contest. Rowe,
Hunt said, organized a scav-
enger hunt that was part of
the reading contest. Students
were tasked with finding
books, reading them and
then taking comprehension
Miranda Hunt/Contributed Photo
Colette Westing, a second grader at Sunset Elementary
School, Hermiston, stands with members of Hermiston Ma-
sonic Lodge No. 138 after they presented her with the bicy-
cle she won earlier this month for participating in the annual
Bikes for Books program, which the Masons sponsor.
federal murder cases
seek to postpone trials
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
PORTLAND — The
defense for Kawlija Scott,
25, of Pendleton, has asked
the federal court in Portland
to continue the criminal case
against him for the May 25
slaying of a man on the
Umatilla Indian Reservation.
Defense attorney Susan
Russell on Thursday, July
21, asked the court to delay
Scott’s trial from Aug. 16 to
at least Nov. 15.
“The ends of justice
served by granting this
motion outweigh the best
interests of the public,”
according to the motion,
“and Mr. Scott in a speedy
trial because the additional
time is necessary to aff ord
defense counsel sufficient
time to complete discovery,
investigate the case, conduct
research, consult with Mr.
Scott, and prepare his case.”
Federal prosecutors have
not objected to the delay.
Magistrate Judge Michael
W. Mosman has yet to grant
the request.
Scott, an enrolled
member of the Confeder-
ated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation, faces
charges of second-degree
murder and assault with a
dangerous weapon in the
slaying of Gabriel Freeman,
27, at his residence on Parr
Lane on the Umatilla Indian
Reservation. Freeman died
at CHI St. Anthony Hospital,
Pendleton. Scott has pleaded
not guilty to the charges. He
remains in custody at the
Multnomah County Jail,
Portland.
And the defense for
Skylar Crowe of Pendleton
again has pushed back the
date of her federal murder
trial.
Crowe, 23, faces a charge
of fi rst-degree murder in the
stabbing death of Richard
Higheagle, 38, at his resi-
dence on the Umatilla Indian
Reservation near Pendleton.
Federal court records show
Magistrate Judge Michael H.
Simon on July 18 granted the
defense request to push back
her fi ve-day trial in federal
court in Portland from start-
ing Aug. 1 to Nov. 29.
Umatilla Tribal Police on
Sept. 29, 2021, at approxi-
mately 7:40 p.m. responded
to 49 Willow Drive on the
Umatilla Indian Reservation
and found Richard High-
eagle, 38, who had a stab
wound in his chest. He died
at a hospital about an hour
after police found him.
According to court
records, Crowe that night
drove herself to the Umatilla
Tribal Police Department,
where she told FBI Special
Agent Rex Shark she stabbed
Higheagle with a kitchen
knife and “admitted that she
intended to kill him,” but
said she was “remorseful that
she had killed him.”
Crowe claimed she had
lived under Higheagle’s roof
while he was married to her
mother and he had sexually
abused her through grade
school and middle school,
and said he also abused her
sister until she was 16. Crowe
has pleaded not guilty.
This is the third time
Crowe has postponed
the trial; the state has not
opposed any of the motions
to continue. Court records
also show she has agreed to a
conditional release from jail.
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M-F house fi re displaces two residents
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
MILTON-FREEWATER
— A home was destroyed but
nobody was injured Thurs-
day morning, July 21, in a
house fi re in the 300 block of
Ward Street in Milton-Free-
water.
The fire displaced two
residents, according to City
Manager Linda Hall.
Firefi ghters arrived less
than a minute after the report
of the fi re at 7:10 a.m., the
house already was about 80%
engulfed by fl ames, Hall said.
The cause of the fire is
under investigation, she said.
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Using an infrared thermometer to fi nd hot spots, Mil-
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fi re Thursday morning, July 21, 2022, on the 900 block of
Ward Street, Milton-Freewater.
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