NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, July 7, 2021
A7
OSP wildlife unit named Team of the Year
Eagle fi le photo
Grant County Public Health Administrator Kimberly Lindsay
during a session of County Court.
Juniper Ridge
construction
nears completion
House woes inhibit
hiring
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
The construction remod-
eling at Juniper Ridge Acute
Care Center, an inpatient
psychiatric facility in John
Day, is nearly complete.
Community Counseling
Solutions CEO Kimberly
Lindsay said during a June
9 session of the county court
that a few more things would
require some “fi nal tweak-
ing” by the contractor.
She told the court mem-
bers the facility could have
up to 10 new patients in
roughly two weeks.
She said the contractors
originally planned to have
the project completed in
early April, but construction
took longer than expected.
In November, in the face
of fi nancial losses, Juniper
Ridge shut down and laid
off four nurses with plans to
shift to a secure residential
treatment facility.
This year, the plan at the
facility was to begin taking
patients downgraded from
acute psychiatric care from
the Oregon State Hospital in
Junction City.
Lindsay said the patients,
deemed stable and no lon-
ger a danger to themselves
or others, will be at Juniper
Ridge for six months.
The funding to update the
facility to secure residential
treatment came through the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief and
Economic Security Act.
She said Juniper Ridge
has been short-staff ed and
needs two resident associ-
ates. Lindsay said when the
facility shifted to a secure
residential treatment center,
two qualifi ed mental health
associate positions opened
up and they promoted two
residential associates to
those positions.
Housing woes hit CCS
County Judge Scott
Myers asked if the lack of
housing in the county had
prevented CCS from fi lling
positions. She said the psy-
chiatric nurse practitioner
they hired could not fi nd a
place to live, but CCS ended
up retaining him, allowing
him to work remotely. How-
ever, she said, he and his
family did not move here.
When asked if telehealth
visits diminish the quality of
care a patient receives, Lind-
say said the practitioner’s
patients would say they feel
great about the quality of
service.
Lindsay said the gen-
eral consensus is that tele-
health is just as productive
for patients. However, she
said something is lost when
the visit is not in person.
“I think that we should
strive for in person whenever
possible,” she said.
Lindsay said it ultimately
is about giving the patient a
choice.
“What’s best is choice,”
she said. “And he’s an excel-
lent provider. But we don’t
have choice; we just have
telehealth.”
Lindsay said that CCS
had an established relation-
ship with the provider. She
said he initially rented for
nine months, but the goal
was for his family to move
with him to Grant County.
She said it did not make
sense to cut ties with him and
go with an unknown tele-
health provider.
CCS passes reviews
Lindsay said that the
health department passed its
early assessment and support
alliance review. She said the
state requires health depart-
ments to participate in the
ESA program and that there
are funding streams attached
to the health department’s
use of the program.
Lindsay said CCS and the
health department did well
on Oregon behavioral health
metrics.
Lindsay said they review
encounter data to ensure that
medical providers and staff
enter billable codes on the
insurance claims.
She said the auditors are
also verifying that the diag-
nosis matches the length of
time and description written
in the notes.
Essentially, she said,
what the auditors are looking
for when they audit encoun-
ter data is any semblance of
fraud and that the treatment
fi ts the diagnosis. Lindsay
said they are also ensuring
that the care they are provid-
ing is appropriate.
“We passed the audit,”
she said. “And we did very
well.”
She told the court, while
the auditors did have admin-
istrative fi ndings, six alto-
gether, none of them were
fraudulent.
‘Professionalism,
teamwork,
mentorship,
dedication to
protecting Oregon’s
citizens and natural
resources’
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Oregon State Police’s
East-Central Wildlife Divi-
sion was named Fish and
Wildlife Division 2020
Team of the Year last month.
The team was presented
the award on June 10 at the
ODFW Phillip Schneider
Wildlife Area near Dayville.
According to the divi-
sion’s supervisor, Sgt. Erich
Timko, the fi ve-trooper team
protects the state’s natu-
ral resources, including fi sh,
wildlife and other habitats,
covering one of Oregon’s
largest geographical areas.
Timko said the team, cre-
ated in 2019, covers an area
that goes down to Nevada
and up to Ukiah and over to
Fossil and Heppner. Timko
Contributed photo/Oregon State Police
The Oregon State Police East-Central Wildlife Division poses with an award for Wildlife Division
2020 Team of the Year: from left, Khris Brandon, a senior trooper in John Day; Geoff Smith, a senior
trooper in Burns; Dean Trent, a trooper in Burns; Sgt. Erich Timko, team supervisor in John Day;
Brian Jewett, a senior trooper in Fossil; and Pat McCosker, a senior trooper in John Day.
said they cover all of Har-
ney County as well.
According to Timko, this
is the first year the team has
won the award.
A June 10 OSP Face-
book post noted that the
team received the award
for their “professionalism,
teamwork, mentorship, ded-
ication to protecting Ore-
gon’s citizens and natural
resources.”
Timko said, during elk
hunting season, the team
works up to 18 hours a day.
Additionally, he said the
group works most weekends
and holidays when most peo-
ple are out recreating. Timko
told the Eagle that the troopers
would often start at 2-3 a.m.
to get out to locations before
dawn.
“It means a lot to me that
they were recognized,” he
said. “Supervising those types
of dedicated employees makes
my job easier. I consider it an
honor to be part of it.”
Timko said he wants the
public to know that the offi -
cers are “community troop-
ers” and rely on citizens to be
their “eyes and ears” because
they have such a large swath
of area to cover.
“Those relationships with
the community are an inte-
gral part of making us suc-
cessful in what we do,” Timko
said. “I would give credit to
the community members who
help support us and provide us
those tips.”
Construction planned for sidewalks on Highway 395 in 2022
Route to Grant Union
soon to be safer
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Students walking to Grant
Union Junior-Senior High
School can look forward to a
safer journey in 2022.
The Oregon Department
of Transportation’s project to
enhance safety along the west
side of South Canyon Bou-
levard near the high school
is progressing as they plan
to take bids in December for
the project with construction
anticipated to begin in 2022.
Tom Strandberg, the ODOT
public information offi cer for
Eastern Oregon, said $1.8 mil-
lion has been budgeted for the
project for the sidewalk from
the high school to Southwest
Sixth Avenue.
“This will improve safety
along the area, and it is fund-
ing from our Safe Routes to
School program,” Strand-
berg said. “It provides safety
enhancements for those areas
considered school routes
along our state highway.”
He said the city of John
Day has worked on trying to
improve this section and its
sidewalk in the last decade.
He said this is a continua-
tion of the work and is the last
piece of the sidewalk to con-
nect downtown John Day with
the school.
People walking on South-
west Sixth Avenue toward the
high school will notice only
a small portion of the trail
includes a sidewalk, which is
in a shattered state. The rest
of the trail includes a small
divider between traffi c and
walkers.
Grant School District 3
Superintendent Bret Upt-
mor said the trail has a mini-
mal gap between cars travel-
ing and people walking. He
said at around 12:30 p.m. to
1:30 p.m., he has seen stu-
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
The gravel path beside Highway 395 that students travel on the way to Grant Union Junior-Senior
High School will be updated with a sidewalk in 2022.
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
The sidewalk heading toward the high school crumbles away.
dents walk along that road,
and he is concerned about the
possibility of a student being
in the line of traffi c.
“When I think of a side-
walk, it gives both drivers and
pedestrians a path that belongs
to them,” Uptmor said.
Strandberg said the proj-
ect will build new sidewalks,
widen the existing bike lane
and install a curb, gutter and
stormwater facilities.
Strandberg said that right
of way issues are still being
negotiated. However, he
thinks they will be able to
resolve them.
Stormwater issues have
been a main challenge and a
cause of delays, and they sig-
nifi cantly increased project
costs, according to Strandberg.
“Due to the increased costs
the city put the project on
hold,” Strandberg said. “ODOT
secured additional funding
through the Safe Routes to
School program to keep the
project moving forward.”
He said ODOT has the
funds committed to complete
the project.
“It
defi nitely
needs
improvement, and that’s why
we’re doing the project: road
safety for everybody,” Strand-
berg said.
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