LOCAL & STATE
BAKER CITY HERALD • THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022 A5
Northeastern Oregon vets air concerns at virtual town hall
delays in delivery of care and
recommendations to move VA
care further away from East-
PENDLETON — Veterans
in Northeastern Oregon raised ern Oregon.” He added he was
a number of questions and is- concerned Eastern Oregon
veterans did not get enough
sues Saturday, June 4, during
voice in the changes and pro-
a virtual town hall meeting to
posals, and he wanted to make
discuss possible Veterans Ad-
ministration changes to deliv- sure the Veterans Adminis-
tration was not making “some
ering health care in the area.
shortsighted cost cutting” at
This was the first of three
virtual meetings Oregon Sen. the expense of veterans.
Wyden then opened the
Ron Wyden, D, is holding for
floor to questions for Boyd
veterans to give input in the
wake of vets at a recent Union and Kelter.
County town hall expressing
concerns over a proposal to
Staffing at center of delays
move some VA health care
Veteran Ken McCormack,
services from Walla Walla
chair of the veteran advisory
council for the La Grande
to Spokane.
“The veterans who partici- community-based outpatient
pated were particularly trou- clinic, or CBOC, was first up
bled about what they felt was with several matters.
Community care in La
the direct touch that’s so im-
Grande can mean waiting on
portant for veterans health
care was just going away from the phone 20 to 30 minutes
for someone to answer be-
the rural part of the state,”
cause of short staffing, he said,
Wyden told those attending
and reimbursement for travel
the June 4 event.
Following the Union County is backed up to last summer.
meeting, he said, he contacted He also said the call center in
Walla Walla seems to drop
Dr. Teresa Boyd, network di-
messages and has to han-
rector for VISN 20, the VA
dle a larger area than in the
Northwest Health Network,
and Scott Kelter, medical cen- past. He also said it took six
months for the La Grande fa-
ter director of the Jonathan
M. Wainwright Memorial VA cility to hire a registered nurse
Medical Center in Walla Walla, and another month for the
where many veterans in North- new hire to learn the system.
Kelter said most delays are
eastern Oregon go for services.
They both agreed to participate due to staffing issues.
“We have been trying every
in the three town halls.
hiring flexibility that is avail-
Wyden said local veterans
are “troubled by a whirlwind of able to recruit staff,” he said,
hasty changes, involving a new but the VA is competing with
electronic health record system, employers who can offer bet-
him can record appointments
to review later to help him un-
derstand what a provider said.
BY PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Discussion on AIR Commission
recommendations
Boyd and Kelter also ad-
dressed concerns on the As-
set and Infrastructure Review
— AIR — Commission to
modernize and realign the VA
health care system. Boyd said
at this point, changes to Walla
Walla and other places are just
recommendations, and imple-
Linda Wondra/Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center, File mentation will take years. Be-
A veteran undergoes an eye exam in 2018 at the Jonathan M. Wain-
tween now and then, she said,
wright Memorial VA Medical Center, Walla Walla. The Veterans Admin- there are going to be numerous
steps for more input.
istration is considering moving its rehabilitation services from Walla
“It’s going to take all of us to
Walla to Spokane.
come to a good implementa-
A question from a Umatilla tion plan,” she said.
ter pay and incentives. And
coaxing people back to work County resident also brought
Kelter said the question
up delays. Shanna — no last
after learning to work re-
comes down to how do we
motely due to the pandemic is name available — said her fa- take the recommendations
ther is a vet and has hearing
another challenge.
of the AIR Commission and
loss, so telehealth does not
Catching up on travel re-
make sure they have positive
imbursements, he said, also is work for him. But she was not results, including balancing the
about staffing and could come able to get him an appoint-
use of technology and in-per-
down to contracting that out. ment in person until the end
son care.
of July. She said she was con-
“Obviously that will be at
He noted this process does
cerned about moving his care not take the place of smart deci-
higher cost to do that, but
even farther away.
we are committed to getting
sions in the field, and when the
“We’re almost driving two
those claims down,” he said.
recommendations ultimately
hours round trip to get him
Recruiting registered
come down, the VA is looking
nurses “is challenging across seeing providers in Walla
at some matters that will affect
Walla,” she said.
the board,” Kelter said, and
Eastern Oregon veterans.
Kelter said as a veteran him-
while the VA has made hir-
The VA is looking at more
self and with a son and daugh- telehealth care in Boardman
ing incentives, applicants
ter in the military now, he is
might pass because they can
and Enterprise, and Kelter said
get on somewhere else faster. keenly interested in access to
he wants to see a provider at
The VA also has cut down its veteran care, and the delay in
those locations more often as
on-boarding process, but the his care is a concern. He said
well as a nurse.
he would follow up and look
VA still has the obligation to
“The staffing model that
ensure someone treating vets into the situation. He also said we’re pursuing there I think
her father or whoever is with
is safe.
will help in those areas in par-
ticular,” he said, adding the VA
also is looking at how it can
best staff the La Grande clinic
to meet veterans needs.
The AIR Commission is rec-
ommending to increase ser-
vices in the Tri-Cities because
the need is there, he said, but
it remains to be seen what that
means for Walla Walla.
“Just because we increase
it in the Tri-Cities does not
necessarily mean the demand
decreases in Walla Walla to
where we won’t support those
services any more,” Kelter said.
He stressed the AIR Com-
mission is about providing
more and better care to veter-
ans, not about cutting costs.
And he said shifting Walla
Walla’s rehabilitation treatment
to Spokane is what is on the
plate, but not other services.
One questioner pointed
out Boise is closer to Union
County than Spokane, so
could Union County become
part of veteran care out of
Boise if changes in Walla Walla
go through? That seemed to
pique the interests of Boyd and
Kelter. Boyd called the sugges-
tion an “interesting thought”
and worth looking over. Kelter
said this fits with the AIR
Commissioners looking at
aligning service areas.
Wyden at the end said de-
tails will be forthcoming on
the next two meetings, but his
point in all this is making the
government go the extra mile
for veterans rather than mak-
ing veterans go extra miles for
their care.
High-profile candidates try to
break Democrat, GOP control
tion rights, policing, climate
change and much more, leav-
SALEM — A former law-
ing a lot of middle-ground op-
maker in Oregon who as a
portunities for independent
young woman flew a
and third-party can-
helicopter around an
didates.
erupting Mount St.
As of one year ago,
Helens is aiming to
31% of registered vot-
shake up state poli-
ers identified them-
tics by running as an
selves as independents
unaffiliated candidate
or members of third
for governor.
parties in states that
Betsy Johnson,
allow them to indicate
Johnson
who served in both
partisan affiliation on
the Oregon Senate and House registration forms, according
and who once belonged to —
to an analysis by Ballotpedia. A
and then quit — both the Re- total of 40% registered as Dem-
publican and Democratic par- ocrats and 29% as Republicans
ties, sees a path to victory with in those 31 states, Washing-
the increasing polarization of
ton, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin
the two major parties.
Islands.
And so do candidates run-
But when it comes to the
ning as independents in
ballot box, that slice of unaffil-
major races in at least two
iated/third-party voters hasn’t
other states.
translated into independents
In California, Anne Ma-
claiming many victories.
rie Schubert, the Sacramento
Trump’s election as president
County district attorney whose in 2016 arguably widened the
office led the prosecution of
divide between liberals and
the Golden State Killer, is run- conservatives. But that didn’t
ning as an independent for
cause large numbers of unaffil-
state attorney general, having
iated voters to abandon the two
left the Republican Party in
big parties in either the 2018 or
2018. She needs to survive Cal- 2020 elections in favor of alter-
ifornia’s primary on Tuesday.
native candidates, analysts say.
The top two vote-getters move
“What ends up happening
on to the general election.
with voters is they typically re-
“I’ve been told a million
spond to surveys or in focus
times that I have to be a Re-
groups, talking about how they
publican or a Democrat to win want somebody outside of the
the race for Attorney General. two parties, but then in prac-
I’ll say it a million more times: tice they tend to vote and be-
No I don’t,” Schubert tweeted
have mostly like (Democratic
confidently last month.
or Republican) partisans,” said
And in Utah, former CIA
Jake Grumbach, an assistant
case officer Evan McMullin is professor of political science at
running as an independent in a the University of Washington.
U.S. Senate race. Astonishingly,
There are only two inde-
Utah Democrats are backing
pendents in the U.S. Senate,
McMullin instead of one of
Angus King, a former gov-
their own in hopes of defeat-
ernor of Maine who won a
ing incumbent Sen. Mike Lee, landslide victory in 2012, and
a Republican, in the decidedly Bernie Sanders of Vermont,
red state.
who was first elected to the
Among Republican vot-
Senate in 2006. Both caucus
ers McMullin is wooing are
with Democrats.
those who don’t support for-
Retired professional wres-
mer President Donald Trump. tler Jesse Ventura’s winning run
McMullin recently tweeted his as a Reform Party candidate
opponent “aligns himself with for governor of Minnesota, in
Donald Trump time and time 1998, is a distant memory.
again. That includes work-
Former radio personality
ing behind the scenes to help
Cory Hepola made a stab this
overturn the 2020 election and year at following Ventura’s
keep Donald Trump in power.” footsteps, as part of Andrew
The Republican and Demo- Yang’s new Forward Party.
cratic parties have dominated
But Hepola dropped out of
politics in America since the
the Minnesota governor race
1850s. These days, they’ve
on Wednesday, saying it is
staked out sharply opposing
“unlikely that 2022 will be the
positions on gun control, abor- breakthrough year.”
BY ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press
Johnson, though, is betting
on dissatisfaction among vot-
ers to boost her run in Ore-
gon. Her campaign war chest
already tops $8.6 million, in-
cluding $1.75 million from
Nike co-founder Phil Knight.
Her reported total was more
than the Democratic and Re-
publican candidates combined.
Johnson has garnered endorse-
ments from a former Demo-
cratic governor and from a for-
mer Republican U.S. senator.
Under Oregon election
rules, Johnson could start
collecting signatures last
Wednesday. Her campaign
must deliver at least 23,744
registered voters’ signatures
to the secretary of state’s of-
fice by Aug. 16 to get her on
the ballot.
Johnson said the volunteers
are “ready to hit the ground
running.”
“We have Betsy brigades in
every county, and we will have
chairpersons in those counties
responsible for explaining the
intricacies of signature gather-
ing,” Johnson said.
Paul Rummell, who tradi-
tionally votes Democratic, is
the Johnson chairperson in
Clackamas County, near Port-
land, and sees her as a “great
counter-balance between the
two ideologies.”
“I’m looking for somebody
that can help bridge the di-
vide in our state,” said the
51-year-old, who works in
the alternative fuels industry.
“I think that, unfortunately,
there’s a chasm ... between
rural Oregon and the metro
area. And I think that Betsy
is the perfect example of a
leader who can help lead the
dialogue that needs to happen
to repair that divide.”
If she gets on the ballot, the
71-year-old will be running
against Democratic nominee
Tina Kotek, a former Oregon
House speaker and a staunch
liberal, and Republican nom-
inee Christine Drazan, a for-
mer House minority leader.
Johnson, who wears huge
eyeglasses and colorful
scarves, used to run a helicop-
ter company that helped fight
forest fires and got aerial shots
for movies. Her company also
set up seismometers at Mount
St. Helens. On the morning of
May 18, 1980, her head me-
chanic called to say the vol-
cano was erupting.
“I jumped in my car and
drove like a bat out of hell ...
jumped in a helicopter and we
were flying that day,” Johnson
said, recalling risky flights over
lava flows. “We were out of our
minds, in hindsight.”
That maverick attitude is ev-
ident in her stances on issues
that are front-page news again
because of recent horrific mass
shootings and the pending U.S.
Supreme Court decision on
Roe v. Wade.
To liberals who want more
gun safety measures, she is
unapologetically pro-gun
rights. She sees even attempts
to ban bump-stocks and
high-capacity ammunition
magazines as chipping away
at Second Amendment rights
on gun ownership. Kotek de-
nounced Johnson’s stance,
saying: “As the nation reels
from one of the deadliest
school shootings in history,
Betsy continues to spout the
talking points of the NRA.”
To conservatives who want
to ban or restrict abortions,
Johnson is unapologetically
in favor of a woman’s right
to choose.
Johnson is running against
the odds — the last time an
unaffiliated candidate was
elected governor in Oregon
was about 90 years ago. She
could also be a spoiler for
Democrats or Republicans,
depending which candidate
she draws votes away from.
Kotek could be vulnerable if
enough moderate Democrats
and unaffiliated voters go for
Johnson. While Oregon hasn’t
elected a Republican gover-
nor since 1982, Democrat Kate
Brown — who’s now term-lim-
ited — edged Republican Kn-
ute Buehler by only 6% in the
2018 election.
James Foster, professor
emeritus of political science at
Oregon State University-Cas-
cades in Bend, expects Kotek
to win. But he’s not ruling out
a Johnson victory or a spoiler.
Foster said if inflation contin-
ues to soar, voters might be-
come alienated from “status
quo politicians,” giving John-
son some traction.
“A whole lot can happen be-
tween now and November in
this crazy upside-down world
we’ve got,” Foster said. “My
wife and I listened to a speech
by Betsy Johnson. She’s one hell
of an orator.”
Kareen Harris Bybee/Contributed Photo
Caitlyn Calaway of Baker City with one of the medals she has won
while competing in swimming events at the Special Olympics USA
Games in Orlando, Florida, from June 5-12, 2022.
Calaway
Continued from Page A1
She also competed in the 50-
yard freestyle on Tuesday,
June 7, and then was a mem-
ber of Oregon’s relay team on
Wednesday, June 8.
“What they do is they have
them swim a preliminary for
a time that puts them into
a division based on their
times,” Kareen said. “And
then they swim a final race in
that division that then awards
them medals and things
like that.”
Between races, Kareen said
Caitlyn and the other athletes
participate in team-building
events, as well as visiting Dis-
ney World.
Kareen said Caitlyn has
been beaming the entire
time. Though she doesn’t see
her daughter for more than
two or three minutes after
each race, they text often.
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“From what I’ve heard, her
first day she was pretty ner-
vous,” Kareen said.
A lot of athletes were ner-
vous to compete for the first
time since COVID hit more
two years ago. After the first
rounds, they began to cheer
up and Calaway was beam-
ing.
“When she swam her sec-
ond round, she had her rac-
ing stance on before she came
up,” Kareen said.
Caitlyn is the first Baker
County resident to qualify for
the Special Olympics in more
than 20 years.
“This is her first time
getting to go and represent
for nationals,” Kareen said
in an interview last month.
“It’s a big honor. She is very
excited.”
Caitlyn has been com-
peting in Special Olympics
since she was in junior high,
and she’s been a competitive
swimmer for about a decade.
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