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Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Hospital as prepared as possible for COVID-19
Blue Mountain Hospital
has several options for
patients depending on
symptoms and conditions
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
The number of COVID-19 cases
rose in August, but Blue Mountain
Hospital continues to prepare and
adapt as life with the virus carries on.
Blue Mountain Hospital Emer-
gency Medical Services Director
Rebekah Rand said a person present-
ing symptoms at a hospital could take
two different pathways.
If somebody is experiencing signs
of severe distress, such as extreme dif-
ficulty in breathing, a bluish tint on the
lips or face or chest pain, they would
be recommended to call 911 for the
ambulance or report immediately to
the emergency room, according to
Rand.
“If you’re feeling really bad, we
want you to go to the ER,” Rand said.
If a person is experiencing milder
symptoms, such as a cough, sore
throat, congestion or a fever, then that
person is recommended to call the
Strawberry Wilderness Community
Contributed photo
A permanent negative pressure isolation room at Blue Mountain Hospital. The
hospital has three negative pressure rooms available for isolation.
Clinic and schedule an appointment
or talk to a nurse for triage, an early
assessment done by a trained nurse.
The nurse triage would go through
the patient’s symptoms and schedule
an appointment with a provider —
there are urgent care slots available
— and determine if it’s safe to stay
at home and self monitor the symp-
toms or recommend the patient go to
the ER.
The type, number and severity of
symptoms a person has all impact the
Health department says two new
COVID-19 cases reported by
OHA were a data entry error
County remains at
eight positive cases
Blue Mountain Eagle
Grant County Health
Department officials said two
new COVID-19 cases reported
by the Oregon Health Author-
ity last week were a data entry
error.
The Oregon Health Author-
ity reported two new positive
cases of COVID-19 in Grant
County Thursday, but accord-
ing to Kimberly Lindsay, the
county’s public health admin-
istrator, those cases have been
attributed to a data entry error
made when entering a test
result. Lindsay said the total
number of Grant County cases
remains at eight.
Lindsay said the health
department receives alerts
from the OHA state database
whenever anyone in Grant
County tests positive for an
infectious disease, including
COVID-19.
“We are sorry for any con-
fusion or concerns that have
occured from this data entry
error but are happy to report
that we have not seen any new
cases,” Lindsay said.
The health department,
according to its website,
encourages all residents to do
the following:
• Wear mask indoors and
wear a mask outdoors if 6
feet of distancing can not be
maintained.
• Wash hands often with
soap and water for at least 20
seconds.
• Avoid touching eyes, nose
or mouth with unwashed hands.
• Cover mouth and nose
when coughing or sneezing.
• Stay home when feeling ill.
After someone contracts
COVID-19, if they develop
symptoms, they will usually
appear within 14 days. Symp-
toms include:
• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or dif-
ficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea
Anyone who has these
symptoms should call 211
or the health department at
541-575-0429.
course of action.
“Some require immediate care,
like, if you’re having shortness of
breath, we would say, ‘Oh my gosh,
we need to get you to the ER,’” Rand
said. “If you’re experiencing milder
symptoms like a fever or sore throat,
that might be a situation where you are
scheduled an appointment or recom-
mended to stay home and quarantine.”
She said if a person still wants to
come in and be seen, depending on
what the condition is, an appointment
can be made.
Blue Mountain Hospital has the
resources needed to accommodate
for COVID-19 patients, such as three
negative pressure rooms available for
isolation at the hospital.
Two negative pressure rooms are
currently set up with the ability to
quickly set up the third.
“We actually did a recent drill to
time how long it would take us to
assemble that room and make it neg-
ative pressure in an isolation room,”
Rand said. “We came in under 30
minutes, which is super fast.”
Rand said the hospital has an ade-
quate stock of personal protective
equipment, which include items like
isolation gowns, gloves, goggles, face
masks, properly fitted N95 masks and
more.
The hospital can procure more
material from their supply chain if
more PPE is needed. Rand said this
is an important development because
when COVID-19 first made waves in
March, it was difficult to obtain PPE.
Rand said not all patients with
COVID-19 need to be hospitalized
and that treatment for the illness is not
specific right now due to a lack of a
vaccine.
“Treatment is a lot of times sup-
portive, and a lot of patients can actu-
ally go home and be treated with home
quarantine and rest and plenty of flu-
ids and things like that,” Rand said. “If
a person needed to be transported to
a higher level of care, they would be,
but only when needed.”
She said that patients are sent to
a higher level of care only when the
symptoms or conditions are severe
enough, but a majority of people
can be hospitalized locally in one
of their negative pressure rooms, or
have symptoms treated at the hospital
before sending the patient home with
supportive care.
There are no capacity concerns at
the hospital right now, but if the hos-
pital ever needs to transfer people out,
they can send people to St. Charles in
Bend, which is part of region seven
for emergency preparedness, she said.
“COVID has been a marathon,
not a sprint, so we’ve been dealing
with this for a long time, and we’ve
learned a lot of things and reaffirmed
our plan on how we’re going to treat
COVID patients and keep our other
patients safe,” Rand said. “We are
well equipped and ready to provide
the care to our patients if they need it
and treat the people that have milder
symptoms or transfer our more critical
or severe patients to a higher level of
care when that’s appropriate.”
Grant County Chamber Republican Central
of Commerce approves Committee to meet Oct. 1
funds to help fire victims
Blue Mountain Eagle
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Firefighters around Ore-
gon continue the battle against
wildfires with progress made
this week, but for the people
who lost so much in the blaze,
the Grant County Chamber of
Commerce joined the efforts of
other county residents in giv-
ing a hand.
The
chamber
board
approved donating $3,000 to a
community affected by the fire
to aid in recovery.
“We have a lot of fire-
stricken communities around
our state, and I, as the cham-
ber, would like to help at least
one of those communities...,”
said Chamber President Sher-
rie Rininger. “We had so much
support for our community
when we had our fire, and I
would like to show support to
another community that needs
support right now.”
Since the chamber instal-
lation dinner seemed unlikely
due to COVID-19, the cham-
ber voted to donate the funds to
another chamber.
Chamber manager Tammy
Bremner said members are
checking with chambers of
commerce in Stayton and Vida
to determine the need.
“...These businesses are
destroyed, and we need to do
something to help them to sur-
vive,” Rininger said.
Chamber member Bruce
Ward also recommended hav-
ing a trailer at the chamber
accepting donations. He said
he would be willing to deliver
the supplies.
“If we had one (trailer) at the
Grant County Chamber, and
we had people fill it, I would
be more than happy to haul it
to Detroit or Mills City,” Ward
said. “I’ve driven that road a
million times, and it makes me
sick to think that it’s going to
look just like this canyon the
next time I go through.”
The chamber board made
no decision yet on the idea of
the trailer.
In other chamber news:
• The Grant County Cham-
ber of Commerce Business
Enhancement Grant Program
has started, and the chamber
sent out seven applications
with four returned for grants.
Bremner said the board for
the grant program will meet
and make a decision on the
applicants by Oct. 15.
The program, adopted by
the chamber board on Aug.
20, was created specifically
for business and commer-
cial building enhancement to
improve the curb appeal.
There is $20,000 budgeted
for the program with applicants
able to apply for up to $2,500
for a project.
• The chamber has received
75% of the membership
renewals, and no business so
far decided to take a discount.
Three businesses contributed
money to help other members
pay their membership dues.
• First Community Credit
Union and Katrina’s Barber
Shop joined the chamber.
The Grant County Republican Central Committee will
meet from 3-5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, at Oregon Telephone
Corporation Connections, 155 W. Main Street, John Day. The
public is welcome.
Youth Livestock Auction
Committee to meet Sept. 29
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Grant County Youth Livestock Auction Committee
will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29, at Keerins Hall at the
Grant County Fairgrounds in John Day.
OBITUARIES
Robert Lee Kerr
Dec. 22, 1935 – Sept. 17, 2020
Robert (Bob) Lee Kerr, 84, of Canyon City passed away
on Sept. 17, 2020. A memorial service will be held on Satur-
day, Sept. 26, 2020, beginning at 1 p.m. at the Grant County
Fairgrounds. Family and friends are
welcome to join, potluck to follow.
Bob was born on Dec. 22, 1935,
in Santa Rosa, California. He mar-
ried Judy (Horton) Kerr in Anchor-
age, Alaska, on Feb. 1, 1986, moving
to Canyon City, Oregon, in 1990. Bob
was a well-known gunsmith and cus-
tom stock maker with over 60 years’
experience. He was also a Shriner and
a life member of the NRA.
He is survived by his wife, Judy;
son Steve Kerr of Sacramento, California; daughters, Sherrie
Stone of Eagle, Idaho, Becky Stonerod-Pereira and Kimberly
Phillipp of Roseburg, Oregon, and Jodi Cornwall of John
Day, Oregon; 13 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.
Memorial Contributions may be made to Shriners Chil-
dren’s Hospital Travel Fund through Driskill Memorial
Chapel at 241 S. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845.
To offer online condolences to the family, visit driskillme-
morialchapel.com.
Brenda Joyce (Atchley) Densberger
April 6, 1943 – September 13, 2020
Brenda Densberger passed September 13, 2020 at Blue Mountain Hospital in John Day, Oregon, with her husband of 61
years and life partner Roy Densberger by her side, at the age of 77. Brenda was born on April 6, 1943 to William Henry
Atchley and Vera (Murphy) Atchley in Mena, Arkansas. Brenda moved to California in 1947 and ultimately to St. Helena
(Napa Valley) California in 1958, where she met her devoted husband Roy. Roy and Brenda married in 1959. Brenda and
Roy moved to Grant County Oregon in 1994, initially to their cattle ranch in Mt. Vernon, and, later, John Day.
Brenda is preceded in death by her parents Bill (September 13, 1997) and Vera, her sister, Linda Brink, and brother,
William Gordon Atchley.
She is survived by her sister Jean Wawak (Jerry); sister-in-law, Sylvia Atchley; her husband, Roy; their two sons, Will
(Elizabeth) and Joe, both of St. Helena; 5 grandchildren: Erica Densberger (Anthony Wilson), Meagan McConnell (Mick-
ey), Morgan (Samantha), John (Lyndi) and Madelyn Levesque (Beau); and 4 great-grandchildren: Miles Morgan McConnell, William Henry Densberger,
Logan Adelia McConnell and Blake Winthrop Densberger; and their extensive extended family.
Brenda was a loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, and loved every bit of each of those roles. With her early family, Brenda provided the
best of ranching life (cattle and horses) to her boys as well as being team mom to the many youth sports they participated in. She later was a support
leader with the Rutherford 4-H Group (cattle). Brenda was the best grandmother in every aspect and famed in the family for her world-class apple pie and
potato salad recipes that her grandchildren have embraced as their own.
Catering Services Available
Breakfast & Lunch
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Brenda had an active career in both the Napa Valley where she served as Executive Secretary to Joe Heitz (Heitz Wine Cellars) and later in Grant County
with DR Johnson and Mike Kilpatrick. Most recently, in retirement, Brenda was active with the John Day Golf Club where she served as a Board Member
among many other roles.
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To leave an online condolence for the family, please visit driskillmemorialchapel.com. Paid for by the family of Brenda Densberger.
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