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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (May 6, 2020)
NEWS MyEagleNews.com Wednesday, May 6, 2020 A9 Community HEALTH BEAT Eagle file photo The Grant County Health Department will offer curbside COVID-19 testing May 7 to individuals who have preregistered. Grant County Health Department to offer curbside COVID-19 testing May 7 By Steven Mitchell Blue Mountain Eagle Grant County will offer curbside COVID-19 testing from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. May 7 at the Grant County Health Department for up to 125 peo- ple who have preregistered. Testing will be on a first- come, first-serve basis, and preregistration is required by calling the health department in advance, before 10 a.m. May 7, at 541-575-0429, according to a health depart- ment press release. The test is for active COVID-19 infec- tions, not antibodies. People are required to pro- vide demographic informa- tion such as name, address and phone number, insur- ance information and pay a $10 collection fee during preregistration. If insurance does not cover the cost of the test, the lab will bill the individual an addi- tional $51. Personnel in full medical protective gear will check the individual’s temperature with a no-touch thermometer and use a swab to obtain the neces- sary sample from the individu- al’s nose for testing while they remain seated in a vehicle in a seat with a working window. Individuals will be able to drive up to the testing site at their arranged time and remain in the vehicle. For test- ing, individuals are required to complete a screening ques- tionnaire, which includes res- idence and work, other high- risk factors and a consent to treat form. People are encouraged to complete the paperwork ahead of time, and the forms are available for download along with this online arti- cle. Completed forms may be faxed or emailed to the health department at 541-575-3604 or grantcountywic@ccsemail. org. The health department rec- ommends testing for people who have had a fever within the last three days, cough, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell or one of the risk factors below: • Age 60 or older • Body Mass Index of 40 or above • Live or work in a nursing home or long-term care facil- ity, jail, prison, group home or other congregate care settings • Frontline healthcare pro- vider or first responder • Routinely take cortisone, prednisone or other steroids, anti-cancer drugs or had radi- ation treatments • Have a condition that weakens the immune system (cancer treatment, bone mar- row or organ transplant, HIV with low CD4 count or not treated) • Pregnant • Diabetes • Lung disease (moder- ate to severe asthma, COPD, emphysema, pulmonary or cystic fibrosis) • Cardiovascular disease (heart failure, coronary artery disease, congenital heart dis- ease, cardiomyopathy, pulmo- nary hypertension) • High blood pressure • Chronic kidney disease requiring dialysis • Chronic liver disease • Had close contact with a lab-confirmed COVID-19 case within 14 days of when your symptoms started This testing option is not meant to replace or eliminate other testing offered by a reg- ular health care provider. The goal is to supplement those options in order to ease some of the pressure on the existing system and make the process more accessible to the pub- lic. People still should con- tact their medical provider for guidance and assessment if they have symptoms such as fever, cough or shortness of breath. For medical emer- gencies, they should call 911 and notify the dispatch per- sonnel that they may have COVID-19. Additional information on COVID-19 and the testing day is available by calling the Grant County Health Depart- ment at 541-575-0429. The Eagle/Steven Mitchell Father Christie Tissera, left, accepts a $2,000 check from Elks Lodge Exalted Ruler Charles Coughlin Thursday at the St. Eliza- beth Catholic Church. The church, for the last month, has been preparing and delivering between 150 to 175 meals on Tuesdays. Elks Lodge donates to St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church Blue Mountain Eagle The John Day Elks Lodge donated $2,000 to St. Eliz- abeth of Hungary Catho- lic Church to help the church offset the costs of preparing and delivering meals in the community. For the last month, the church has prepared and delivered upwards of 150 meals every Tuesday evening to fill the gaps left by Meals- on-Wheels and the senior cen- ters since the start of the coro- navirus pandemic, according to Elks Lodge Secretary Janel Parker. “It has been a wonderful community effort,” Parker said. “It has brought together people from different arenas to help people in need.” Parker said people have been extremely grateful for the help. Elks Lodge Exalted Ruler Charles Coughlin said the grant money would have gone for the yearly small school prom that the lodge hosts for high schools in the surround- ing area. However, with social distancing directives, the prom was canceled. Father Christie Tissera said the church is carrying out the mission of St. Eliz- abeth, which was to help the poor, the lonely, the sick and the needy. In the evenings, from 5:30-7 p.m. every Tuesday, the church serves meals to go. Father Christie Tissera said those in need of a delivery can call 541-980-1504. Quality Healthcare Close to Home 170 Ford Road, John Day • 541-575-1311 • www.bluemountainhospital.org May is Better Hearing and Speech Month By Charissa Moulton, MS, CCC-SLP, CLC Speech Therapy is a brief title that encompasses a wide variety of services that are available to anyone across the life span. A Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) is able to assess and treat speech and language disorders, swallowing disorders, and cognitive-linguistic disorders. The month of May is Better Hearing and Speech Month (BHSM) which makes this month the perfect opportunity to put a spotlight on communication. At its base, communication is just an exchange of information in any form. It requires two participants; one to send the information and the other to receive it. When that cycle is completed, it is called a communication loop. Communication is something that comes instinctively to many of us as it begins at birth when we cry to let our parents know we are hungry. When our mother or father responds to our cry and gives us a bottle or nurses us at the breast, they are responding to our attempt to communicate and are closing that communication loop. When caregivers continue to respond to our cry with food, they are reinforcing that communication effort and we learn that if we are hungry, we can cry and someone will bring us food. As we get older, we learn how to point, gesture, make sounds, use words, and then ultimately string those words together into functional sentences. We instinctively use our body language (eye contact, facial expressions, etc.) to help us communicate and then we learn how to refine that communication tool. We then learn how to write and read and we add those to our communication toolbox. By the time we are adults, our communication toolboxes are overflowing with tools at our disposal. According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), communication disorders are among the most common disabilities experienced by young children. A young child might experience difficulty with using or understanding language, producing speech sounds correctly, stuttering, using communication in social interactions, or difficulty with thinking and memory (also called cognitive communication). Good communication skills are essential for laying the foundation for future school success; especially when it comes to reading, spelling, and writing. If your child is experiencing one or more of this difficulties, it can make it more difficult to do well in school, make and maintain friendships, or build self-esteem. Speech therapy is here to help. As an adult, there are a variety of medical conditions or injuries that can lead to a disruption in our ability to communicate effectively. This can include a brain injury or stroke, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, breathing problems, voice damage, or cancers of the head and neck, among many others. For someone who has never had difficulty communicating before, this disruption can be frustrating, disorienting, and scary. Speech therapy is here to help you learn to communicate effectively again and gain back your independence. This is usually done through a variety of methods, such as using communication boards of devices, teaching compensatory strategies, supporting the process of re-learning language, and providing education to patients and family. Communication is life. It is necessary to meet our basic needs, form and continue relationships, earn a living, and experience the world around us. That is why speech therapy is available at Blue Mountain Hospital District through Rehabilitation Services as an outpatient, inpatient and transitional care program, and now is available through Home Health. If you or someone you know is experiencing difficulties in communication, swallowing, or cognitive-linguistic processing reach out to your primary care physician, or reach us in the Rehab Department at 541-575-4157. We are here to serve the health of you, our valued community. May Visiting Baker City Podiatrist - Dr. Rushton 5/18 Specialists Blue Mountain Care Center Resident of the Month Charlene Dean Charlene was born on May 27, 1944 in Astoria, Oregon to Ross and Lona Dean. She is an only child and was raised in Tillamook, Oregon. Charlene, at age 6, spent 2 years in Eugene, Oregon due to health issues. She then started school at age 8, in Tillamook. Charlene played basketball in high school and her team went to state all 4 years. She loves to read and collected postcards when she was younger. She loves to go fishing, and she really enjoys going for car rides and having lunch with her friend, Julie. Charlene worked in a shelter workshop in Tillamook for 7 years; she then took care of her mom. She has traveled to Reno, Nevada. Charlene’s favorite color is red and she loves to sit outside during the summer and read. She also loves people. Charlene came to the Blue Mountain Care Center on October 26, 2018. S186515-1