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.
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