From A1
wallowa.com
August 8, 2018
BASH IS BACK
MCQUEAD
Crowd doubles
from last year’s
inaugural event
When McQuead came to the city
offices back in 2012, she knew “very
little,” she said.
She’d trained in dental assisting,
radiology and business, but had no
idea what she really wanted to do with
her future.
“I just walked in one day, and they
were looking for help,” she recalled.
“I took messages, maintained the
office, helped customers, and that was
it.”
When Janet Livingston retired in
2013, Young asked McQuead if she’d
like to stay on –– and in that short
amount of time, McQuead had dis-
covered her calling.
“I think it was the customers,” she
said. “I’m from Wallowa County born
and raised. My kids were in school
here, and I thought it was a great
opportunity.”
There was something even greater
kindling in McQuead’s heart, and
Young apparently saw it. It was a pas-
sion for the future of the city.
Young nurtured that flame, open-
ing a lot of doors in different areas
for McQuead over the following five
years, sending her for trainings and
expanding her responsibilities. By the
time Young retired, McQuead was the
human resources director in addition
to administrative assistant.
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
Thunderclouds on the horizon
didn’t dampen the spirits of the nearly
1,000 people who attended the sec-
ond Back Country Bash Aug. 4 at the
Chief Joseph Days rodeo grounds.
Event organizers had a hefty
main lineup of three alt-country acts,
including Shane Smith and the Saints
out of Austin, Texas; Corb Lund of
Alberta, Canada, and Reckless Kelly,
lately of Austin, but with Idaho and
Oregon roots.
Local singer-songwriter An
American Forrest (Forrest Van Tuyl)
and guitar virtuoso Mark Kroos
served as the show’s opening acts.
Van Tuyl played his usual set of taste-
ful and original western songs with a
heavy emphasis on the joys of life
on horseback. The dexterous Kroos
wowed the audience with his mastery
of the double neck acoustic guitar,
on occasion even playing two songs
simultaneously.
Shane Smith and the Saints served
HEALTH
Continued from Page A1
Most of the examples Word
shared with the subcommit-
tee included televised hook-
ups utilized by patients from
the hospital. In-home hooks-
ups between patients and pro-
viders will require expanded
broadband Internet service.
“Moving forward, reliable,
affordable broadband in homes
and remote rural hospitals and
clinics will be critical as we
transform the current health-
care delivery system,” Word
told the committee. “We are
fortunate in Wallowa County
to have good broadband infra-
structure; but, even so, our
county has many remote areas
that do not yet have broadband
connectivity.”
By one estimate, the
county is among the 10 Ore-
gon counties with the highest
digital divide index –– least
likely to have broadband con-
nectivity in the home.
Lack of high-speed avail-
ability isn’t the only issue. The
use of telemedicine has out-
paced governmental regulations
on health care.
“Medicare reimbursement
has been the really problem-
atic piece,” said Katherine
Britain, executive director of
Telehealth Alliance of Oregon
in Mill City, east of Salem.
Word is a member of the
group’s board.
Only recently have reim-
bursements been approved, and
Britain said Medicare has sig-
naled a willingness to expand
coverage to include telehealth
sessions.
“Medicare does not reim-
burse for remote patient mon-
itoring, a potentially vital tool
in monitoring patients with
chronic conditions ...” Word
told the subcommittee. “Pro-
viders would like these geo-
graphic and setting location
And she was Young’s trusted right
hand.
“She made it possible for me to
have this opportunity,” McQuead
said. “Knowing that Michele had
been here for almost 30 years at that
time and seeing her passion and drive,
I was very interested in having that
same thing.”
She has big shoes to fill.
“Michelle had this thought in
her mind that she wanted to build a
foundation for progress in the city,”
McQuead said. “She wanted the
infrastructure of the city to be what it
needed to be for progress. I think that
is my hope for the future of the city ––
to continue the progress.”
When the advertisement went out
for a new city administrator, 13 indi-
viduals picked up applications. But
the list of responsibilities is daunting.
In the end, only McQuead applied.
“There was a unanimous confi-
dence about her abilities among the
councilors,” said city councilor Micah
Agnew. “I am thrilled that she’s taken
on this role. She has displayed incred-
ible competence and passion for the
position. I think she’ll continue to do
a fantastic job.”
Mayor Stacey Karvoski was
equally unequivocal in her praise.
“I think she’s going to be great,”
Karvoski said. “She’s already been an
asset to the city and I think she’ll con-
tinue to be an asset. She’s a great team
player and she does a great job.”
Continued from Page A1
up plenty of high-powered alt-coun-
try, which featured fiddle playing
to give the audience a taste of their
roots and how it’s done in Texas. The
group served as a perfect forerunner
for the following act, Corb Lund.
Although headliner Reckless
Kelly is possibly more widely known
than Lund, Wallowa County attend-
ees seemed to appreciate the Cana-
dian, whose background is in the
ranch life, often the subject of his
songs.
He professed his main interests as
“horses, guns and whiskey,” much
to the crowd’s delight. The thunder-
ous applause that met Lund when he
asked if the crowd would like him to
return indicated the distinct possibil-
ity of another visit.
Headliner Reckless Kelly is at the
forefront of the alt-country move-
ment, and the size of the crowd that
pressed up to the stage at the begin-
ning of their set indicated the audi-
ence was well aware of the fact. The
five-member group, led by brothers
Willy and Cody Braun, showed the
audience why they’re on top.
Lead singer Willy Braun mes-
merized the audience with his spar-
kling voice and commanding stage
presence with able vocal help from
brother, Cody and the excellent musi-
Steve Tool/Wallowa County Chieftain
Corb Lund, who has an authentic
ranching background, wows the
Back Country Bash attendees.
cianship of the other band members.
They laid out a blueprint of how to
serve as the backbone of a top-notch
band. Audience enthusiasm was so
high, the band played well past their
alloted stage time.
OK Theatre owner Darrel Brann,
who also seved as one of the con-
cert promoter, said that the show met
expectations and then some.
“We haven’t gotten in the total
numbers yet, but I think we were
up near 1,500 people there, which
is pretty close to doubling what we
had last year,” he said. “Everyone
was really pleasant, and the bands
were happy to be there. They really
loved the crowd and the energy com-
ing from it.”
Brann said the success of the event
was a probable indicator that the
event would return next year and pos-
sibly expand in the future. The con-
cert series is presented by the Chief
Joseph Days Rodeo Committee.
HOW TELEMEDICINE WORKS AT WALLOWA MEMORIAL
A baby is delivered at the hospital
by a family practice physician during
a snowstorm on a January night. The
closest Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is
more than 150 miles away.
Roads out of the county were closed
early in the day due to ice, and snow
has been falling off and on for most
of the day. An hour after delivery, the
newborn is struggling to breathe, and
oxygen levels are lower than normal.
The physician has been on the phone
with a neonatologist who recommends
transferring the baby to a NICU, but due
to weather, neither a fixed-wing plane
requirements eliminated and
expansion of the types of tech-
nology that can be used, and
coverage for all services that
are safe to provide.”
Another issue has been
requirements imposed on
doctors.
“Many states did not
nor a helicopter is able to land, and
road conditions are not safe enough to
make the four-hour highway trip.
The solution: The hospital was
able to use a telemedicine robot to
allow the neonatologist to assess the
newborn throughout the next week.
He was able to listen to the baby’s
heart, lungs and belly. He could see the
baby’s color, hear its breathing and talk
with the parents.
The hospital was able to provide all
the care necessary. The family avoided
Life Flight surgery and NICU costs. The
baby was discharged a week later.
allow the use of telemedi-
cine to deliver services and
even more problematic were
the restrictions around cross-
state licensure,” Britain said.
“These restrictions would
have made it nearly impossi-
ble for hospitals like Wallowa
Memorial to receive services
Wallowa County Chieftain
telemedically from a hospital
like St. Alphonsus in Boise ––
across the Oregon border.
Other challenges to full
implementation include cost of
equipment, training, security
and privacy issues and cultural
acceptance.
“It often requires starting
small with a single applica-
tion, a lot of education, engag-
ing telehealth ‘evangelists’ and
developing a successful strat-
egy that all can support,” Brit-
ain added. “Wallowa Memo-
rial has done much of that
work, and its telehealth suc-
cess reflects that.”
Wallowa County’s Wind-
ing Waters Clinic has also been
dipping its toe in the telemedi-
cine stream.
The clinic purchased a
telehealth “robot” through a
Greater Oregon Behavioral
Health Inc. grant in 2016. Wal-
lowa Valley Center for Well-
ness and Wallowa Memorial
have similar units.
It is most often used to
connect patients to special-
ists, according to Meg Bowen,
Quality Director for Winding
Waters a nonprofit community
health center in Enterprise,
Bowen said the clinic would
also like to see in-home uses
where sufficient Internet speed
permits.
“Being able to log into med-
ical services from the comfort
of their home would greatly
enhance the experience of our
patients,” Bowen added.
le
This week features multip
the
of
e
let
ath
the
athletes for
goes
r
no
ho
e
Th
.
ard
aw
ek
we
o
to the 60-plus children wh
gdom
Kin
d
ite
Un
the
d
de
en
att
se at the
Soccer camp in Enterpri to Aug. 3.
30
y
Jensen Field from Jul e from
Participants ranged in ag ng from
4-13 and received coachi ay as
instructors from as far aw rthern
Poland, Scotland and No hailed
Ireland while one coach wa
from Portland. The Wallo ation
Valley Youth Soccer Associ
sponsored the camp
udly
Pr o
onsore d b y
S p
Enterprise
UK Soccer Camp
vice Propane Supplier
Eastern Oregon’s Full Ser
E nergy. Community.
Service.
-426-0320
erprise • 541
201 E. Hwy 82, Ent
www.edstaub.com
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
A8
Community Appreciation BBQ
Join us for a BBQ
August 14th • 11 am to 2 pm
Don’t Miss It!
Burgers - Hotdogs - Chips - Soda - Dessert
See you Tuesday!
+
609 N Main Street - Joseph
300 NW 1st Street - Enterprise
202 N Storie Street - Wallowa
Featuring grass-fed
beef burgers from:
Member FDIC