OFF PAGE ONE
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
A5
Cloud: ‘‘I don’t think this should be brushed under the rug’
update for him.”
Continued from Page A1
In the letter, the chamber
tried to be supportive of the
council, but repeatedly called
for action citing the “dys-
function” of city government.
In response to Lockhart
and the chamber’s letter,
Mayor Belinda Buswell said
steps will be taken.
“I believe that we are
going to address that and
we’ll inform the public as
soon as we have a meeting
scheduled to address those
things,” she said. “We’ll work
with Wyatt and with Brock
and we’ll get these things
taken care of. Thank you for
your patience. There’s been a
little upheaval recently. We
haven’t forgotten.”
Thin skin?
Toward the end of the
meeting, individual council-
ors had the opportunity to
cite their concerns.
“I’ll start with (Braden’s)
resignation letter, where it
says ‘constant harassment
from members’ and at times
I read that, I wonder if that
means me. I don’t think so,
but it seems rather open-
ended,” Councilman Matt
Soots said. “I’ve come to the
conclusion that unless (Bra-
den) basically points a fi n-
ger, it remains just specula-
tion and I don’t know if any
action would ever be taken
in legal means. I do know,
as a fact, that there’s been
this kind of situation going
Another
harassment claim
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
A cloud remains over Joseph City Hall on Friday, May 7, 2021, after the City Council received
a scathing rebuke from the Joseph Chamber of Commerce over the council’s dysfunctional
performance and another employee complaint of harassment surfaced at its meeting the
previous evening.
on within the city between
employees I’ve contacted
over a year ago. I didn’t think
it was so widespread. But it
seems there are people who
need to leave their quarrels
at home and, as the letter
points out from the chamber,
just get your job done. I’m
not sure I’ve ever run across
stuff like this happening on
such a continuous basis. I
feel I’m still a fairly new res-
ident — I’ve been here since
2017 — but I’ve had family
in the area for decades. I’ve
listened and talked to a lot of
people.”
Soots told of one person
he’d talked to before he lived
here who said, “You’re lucky
to not be working for (the
council).”
He wondered, too, about
the sensitivity of those feel-
ing harassed.
“I’m afraid I’ve come to
the conclusion that, and Mr.
Eckstein brought this up at
the fi rst of the meeting and it
kind of surprised me, about
being thick-skinned,” Soots
said. “Knowing some of the
things that I think other peo-
ple don’t know about this sit-
uation that I’ve seen in writ-
ing and in emails and so on, I
think some people may have
been a little bit thin-skinned
and all this stuff coming
Hospital:
Continued from Page A1
list, which was released ear-
lier this year.”
Constantly seeking
to improve
Davy said there consis-
tently are meetings within
hospital leadership and coun-
cils that assess the hospital’s
inner workings and where
it can continue to improve,
even with such a high
ranking.
“We internally have iden-
tifi ed scores of things we
want to get better at. We in
no way feel like we have
arrived,” he said.
He said part of the reason
perfection is the ultimate —
even if unattainable because
of human fallibility — goal is
because it “feels unethical” to
make the goal anything less.
“You cannot set a goal that
95% of the time we’ll get our
care right,” he said. “There’s
not a guilt trip that you don’t
get perfection. We celebrate
success, but how can we
edge closer to perfection?”
Pace said the hospital
being among the top in the
country lets residents know
they are in good hands.
Council:
Continued from Page A1
Councilwoman
Kathy
Bingham, who voted against
the change, asked why it was
considered. Councilwoman
Lisa Collier, who serves on
the committee, said com-
mittee members agreed red
went better with the West-
ern motif downtown. Col-
lier said that the state Depart-
ment of Transportation says
Wallowa County Chieftain, File
Wallowa Memorial Hospital has been named a Top-100 Critical
Access Hospital for the eighth time in 11 years, and a Top-20
CAH for the fourth time in fi ve years.
“With all the metrics that
they use, this really assures
them they are receiving the
best possible care in our rural
community that is equal to
the care they would receive in
larger metro areas,” she said.
“Because part of the metrics
they look at is cost, charge
and fi nancial effi ciency, they
are not only receiving a high
quality of care but at a (low
cost). “They have access
to this level of care in our
remote corner of the world.”
Last year, the hospi-
tal received a percentile rat-
ing of 99.7 based on a set of
data from diff erent sources,
including the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Ser-
vices, and Quality Director
Stacey Karvoski said that
score was based on data from
2016 to 2019. A more recent
score has not been made
available.
“They look at all the data
and compile it into a percen-
tile rating,” she said.
Davy added that it’s not
only about the care the hos-
pital gives, but how the hos-
pital can better help the com-
munity, including in focusing
resources for preventative
care and in what are deemed
the top community needs by
the community.
that although yellow is more
common, red is an acceptable
alternative.
In
another
matter,
Buswell told the council
word should be coming soon
on the $229,109 the city is
to receive under the Ameri-
can Rescue Plan Act signed
by President Joe Biden on
March 11.
“We’re still a few weeks
out before the feds give us the
operating parameters and dis-
burse the money, so … hope-
fully by Friday (May 14),
we’ll have some regulations
from the feds and discuss the
monies disbursement, which
I’m sure Brock will be han-
dling,” Buswell said.
The council also approved
a liquor license for the
Kokanee Inn.
Co-owner Michelle Britt
said when she and co-owner
Eric Makela opened the inn
two years ago, they didn’t
want a liquor license because
the focus of the inn is primar-
ily families. However, now
they’re ready for a change,
Local assessment a
key piece of data
The data the hospital
uses to inform it includes a
together has brought about
this problem, not just one
thing. I’m just hoping, per-
haps, this is a turning point.”
Councilwoman Lisa Col-
lier appreciated Soots’ com-
ments, but disagreed.
“I don’t think this is about
thin skin. I don’t think this
should be brushed under the
rug. We do need to move for-
ward, but I think we have a
real issue that I would like
to have an executive ses-
sion over. I don’t think this
is about thin skin. I was con-
tacted by an employee who
has been off for quite some
time. He called me yesterday
and asked if I would give an
Collier gave an updated
on behalf of City Parks and
Main Street Supervisor Den-
nis Welch, who has been off
on leave and faces a tough
decision on his plans to
return to work. According
to Collier, Welch has until
May 14 to declare whether
he plans to return to work or
not. He has been diagnosed
with severe stress stemming
directly from his employ-
ment, Collier said. Welch has
been diagnosed as a victim of
gaslighting, a form of abuse
that causes someone to doubt
their sanity or perceptions,
belittling and harassment.
“He reports being heart-
broken,” Collier said. “This
is not a matter of being thin-
skinned. We as a council
need to do something. We’re
losing good people.”
Soots agreed with Col-
lier and she asked Eckstein to
reach out to Welch.
At this, Buswell said the
council needs additional
legal advice.
“(City Attorney) Wyatt
(Baum) had discussed hav-
ing an executive session at
some point, so I think Brock
should touch base (with
Baum),” she said. “It will
be addressed, but we have
to follow the attorney to see
what executive session we
want to have.”
Eckstein said he hopes to
Community Health Needs
Assessment done every three
years within the community,
as well as federal data.
“We are often amazed at
the high levels of tobacco,
diabetes, lifestyle-related ill-
nesses, (and) by seeing the
latest data, it helps us focus
our resources. What do we
need to focus on the next
three years?” Davy said.
“We want to get really good
at helping you prevent that
from happening.”
As for what the distinc-
tion means within hospital
walls, Pace said the staff is
proud of what it has contin-
ued to accomplish.
“I think the word that
really comes to mind is pride,
in not only ourselves, but our
team that we continue to
deliver the type of care that
delivers the best outcomes
for our community,” she
said.
The CEO added that the
community does play a role
in the success of WMH, and
should be lauded for it, as
well.
“It’s not just about the
hospital, it’s about the com-
munity. They have been sup-
portive,” he said. “This is
about 7,000 people working
together. They need to share
the credit for it.”
be able to eff ectively help
with relations between the
council and employees.
“I am the shield between
you guys and the employees
and between the employees
and you guys,” he said. “All
information should come
through me and should get
disbursed to the employees
and if the employees have
an issue, it should be brought
to my attention disbursed to
you folks.”
Eckstein, who works with
his wife’s La Grande-based
law fi rm, Laura Eckstein
Law, also said he could help
with minor legal advice.
“What I would recom-
mend is maintaining Baum
and Smith as your attorney
of record just in case you got
into any sort of major trial,”
he said.
He also agreed to help
with the budget the city must
have completed by June 30,
along with Deyette Perry
CPA, who also was pres-
ent at the meeting. City offi -
cials noted that Braden had
completed part of the bud-
get before his resignation, so
it’s not like they’re starting
from scratch. However, he
said, the budget process usu-
ally starts in February, so the
city’s a bit behind. He said
the council likely will have
to call special meetings to
allow for the public comment
required by law prior to fi nal
council approval. The coun-
cil voted to appoint Eckstein
as its budget offi cer.
adult Cats
available
now!
including a happy hour.
“We thought we’d give it
a try,” she said.
But they still want to keep
the serving of liquor limited.
“We don’t want to be a
party destination,” she said.
“We don’t want to be called
that.”
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