Enterprise, Oregon
135th Year, No. 18
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, August 14, 2019 $1.50
Legislature
provides a
$2.5M boost
for integrated
health care
New Wallowa County
facility wins critical
funding from HB 5030
By Ellen Morris Bishop
Wallowa County Chieftain
Ellen Morris Bishop
Hope Mansfi eld, 3, takes fi rm control of her sheep in the PeeWee Showmanship event , while Maddy McDowell (right) makes sure
things go smoothly.
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THE WALLOWA
COUNTY FAIR
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Another
successful year
By Ellen Morris Bishop
Wallowa County Chieftain
The Wallowa County Fair is a celebra-
tion of summer, children, hard work, and
families. This year saw an extraordinary
exhibit of quilts, a new roping contest for
youngsters, and the continuation of many
long and revered traditions, from the 4-H
dog show and 4-H horse show, through
Saturday’s peewee showmanship, culmi-
nating in the livestock auction’s bitter-
sweet ending. Not even the thunderstorms
that rolled through the fairgrounds could
dampen spirits. One of them would have
wiped out the newly-planned talent show
late Friday afternoon, but no one actually
entered, suggesting that either fair partic-
ipants were already booked solid, or per-
haps they were better long-term weather
forecasters than the adults.
See County Fair, Page A16
Photos by Ellen Morris Bishop
CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT Wilbert, a Duroc-cross pig owned by Evan Torres, takes
it easy before the Saturday night auction. Wilbert weighed in at 297 pounds, and took a
reserve champion ribbon. Celeste Bauck was recognized as Homemaker of the Year,
following in the footsteps of her grandmother, Ida Hillock, who won the fi rst such award
ever given in 1979. Sophie Moeller walks her 1500-pound Grand Champion FFA
Angus steer around the auction arena fl oor Saturday night.
See Fair
results an
d
more photo
s
on pages
A15–17
The new integrated health care facility
planned jointly by Wallowa Valley Center
for Wellness and Winding Waters Clinic,
a non-profi t Community Health Center, is
$2.5 million dollars closer to reality. Just
before their adjournment, the Oregon
legislature passed HB 5030, which con-
tained the $2.5 million dollar appropria-
tion dedicated to the new facility. The bill
was sponsored by Senator Bill Hansell
and Representative Greg Barreto, and
signed by Governor Kate Brown on Fri-
day. No date for construction has been
set, but the $2.5 million appropriation
brings the project within striking distance
of its $7.1 million dollar goal.
“None of this would be possible with-
out the community,” said Winding Waters
Community Health Center board pres-
ident Russell Peterson. “When the need
arises, the community stands up. We are
all together. We are all part of this.” Fund-
raising in Wallowa County has contrib-
uted more than $584,000 from two Hearts
for Health events and other sources,
which helped inspire the legislation.
In the new center, all services will be
fully integrated under the same roof, so
that people with a dental appointment
would be using the same waiting area and
same hallways as those seeing a medi-
cal doctor, a counselor, or other health
professional.
The new center is designed to expand,
not replace, existing primary medical care
in Wallowa County. It will add fi ve addi-
tional medical exam rooms, four addi-
tional dental operatories, 22 additional
counseling rooms, and include space for
educational activities and events.
“With veterans comprising more than
15% of Wallowa County’s population, the
center is also looking to expand care spe-
cifi cally for veterans,” Winding Waters
CEO Nic Powers said.
Importantly, the new center will
include facilities for health education,
including space for group visits and
a teaching kitchen where community
groups can host nutritional classes for the
full span of ages and skill levels. In addi-
tion, a separate meeting/classroom area
will accommodate exercise classes, fi rst
aid training, meetings, and more.
The new facility will also allow
expansion of partnerships with west-side
primary care programs. Presently, Wind-
ing Waters works with the OHSU Fam-
ily Medicine Residency Program and
schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Den-
tistry, and the OSU School of Pharmacy,
to bring future practitioners to Wallowa
County. The Wallowa Valley Center for
Wellness has entered into an agreement
to be an internship site for George Fox
See Healthcare, Page A6
Highway crews cut Minam curve down to size
Project slated
for late October
completion
By Ellen Morris Bishop
Wallowa County Chieftain
Ellen Morris Bishop
Assistant project manager Josh McCullough takes a look at
the plans for the new roadway.
In the August sun, the 10
minute wait for traffi c, going
and coming on the Minam
grade can seem intermina-
ble. But rest assured that con-
struction crews are working
double shifts to completely
meet the late October dead-
line on a new road cut with a
kinder, gentler curve.
The $6.3 million project,
(4.3 million for construction
and the remainder for per-
mits, inspection, adminis-
tration, and other expenses)
began in August 2018, and
was put on hold through the
winter. Construction crews
are now carving a new,
1500-foot-long
roadway
through solid-and not-so-
solid rock, eliminating the
sharp hairpin turn at mile-
post 30.84, midway up the
grade from the Minam River
to Cricket Flat. The new
curve will post a 40 mph
speed limit rather than the
25 mph speed of the present
alignment.
Jess Fitzhugh, owner of
John Day-based Tidewater
Construction said that his
22-person crews were work-
ing double shifts to ensure
project completion on time.
Fitzhugh, who lives in Los-
tine, has hired some of his
crew for this project locally.
The new roadway will
sport a 160-foot high road-
cut on the west side, and a
15-foot high berm on the east
side which will protect traf-
fi c from the abrupt 500-foot
plunge toward the Minam
River below. A sturdy steel
mesh barrier will extend
down the entire 160-foot
west-side road cut, protect-
ing vehicles from any rocks
that fall from the near-verti-
cal embankment. The paved
highway will be standard
width, with wider shoulders.
See Minam curve, Page A6