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NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Activities
Hospital
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with the Grant County Health Department
to make the best decisions for students and
staff .
“The past two years that we have been
dealing with this has been a rollercoaster
ride,” Hallgarth said. “I honestly can’t
say with confi dence that Oregon schools
will be in a position to have local control
because of the new variants that are com-
ing out.”
Brandon Haberly, Dayville School
District’s superintendent, did not imme-
diately respond to the Eagle’s request for
comment.
Kimberly Lindsay, the county’s pub-
lic health administrator, said people should
be thoughtful about attending large social
gatherings given the surge in COVID-19
cases and the record number of hospital-
izations last week. However, she said she
does not support school closures or other
lockdowns.
As of Jan. 5, coronavirus cases were up
140% statewide from the previous week,
according to the state health authority’s
data. During the same period, an average
of seven new cases per day were reported
in Grant County, a 92% increase. One out
of every six Grant County residents has
had the virus, a total of 1,231 reported
cases since the start of the pandemic.
In a Friday, Jan. 8, press conference,
Oregon Health Authority offi cials painted
a bleak picture of the next few weeks to
come as the omicron variant tears across
the state. That picture includes coronavi-
rus-related staffi ng shortages at schools,
hospitals and businesses.
At the same time, Grant County educa-
tors say they don’t want to add to the pan-
demic-related stress that high school stu-
dents and athletes have endured over the
last two years.
For his part, Uptmor said that school
activities are an extension of the classroom
for students.
“Our kids learn a lot in those environ-
ments,” he said. “To put them on pause
would be similar to if we just close the
school.”
Whether they are participating as spec-
tators or players, he said, sports give stu-
dents the opportunity to engage with their
peers and make decisions based on those
interactions.
“When I think about a comprehen-
sive education system, you need to have
the ability to troubleshoot and use prob-
lem-solving skills. Those aren’t just auto-
matically taught within the distribution of
our curriculums,” Uptmor said. “We try
to do some of that problem-solving in the
classroom, but experiences create those
opportunities.”
As of Wednesday, Jan. 5, the Ore-
gon Health Authority was report-
ing an outbreak with 15 cases of
COVID-19 associated with the
Strawberry Wilderness Community
Clinic in John Day. Daley said he
was only aware of four or fi ve clinic
employees who have tested posi-
tive since early December, but work-
place outbreaks can also include
household members or other close
contacts of people who work at a
particular facility.
While the situation has now
eased considerably, soaring case
counts and extreme weather condi-
tions combined last week to put a
severe strain on Blue Mountain Hos-
pital’s limited resources. The John
Day hospital is licensed for 25 beds
but is currently staff ed for 16.
Ordinarily, patients who need
a higher level of care can be trans-
ferred to larger hospitals in Bend or
Boise, freeing up bed space at Blue
Mountain, but stormy weather and
icy roads temporarily limited trans-
portation options.
Rebekah Rand, the hospital’s
emergency services manager, said
last week that the ability to transfer
patients by air was rapidly changing
Truckers
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the routes. Partnering up, she said. It is
a lonely profession. None of the truck
drivers along the route had known each
other, despite some driving along the
same route for years. Holman said that
she hasn’t seen some of her co-workers
back in Nebraska for several years.
For brief moments, she and a couple
of truck drivers she hadn’t met before
spoke outside as snow fell, and joked
about the closure.
“I think we’re stuck here till spring,”
one of the drivers said.
Past time
Ken Spriggs, 78, is a day-route
truck driver. That means he goes
home every night — at least when
he’s not stuck in a road closure span-
ning several days.
He said he has a daughter in Elgin
he was thinking of staying with for
the night if the roads didn’t soon open
up. Working for a company based in
Vale, he has been a truck driver for
12 years. Before that, a police offi cer
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
and dependent on the weather con-
ditions at the accepting hospital and
Grant County Regional Airport.
Even when the airport is open,
she said, the pilot of any incoming
fl ight has the fi nal say on whether
they come or not.
Ground transportation options
were also limited until road condi-
tions improved later in the week,
Rand said.
COVID-19 admissions at Blue
Mountain Hospital reached a peak
late last week. Kimberly Lindsay,
Grant County’s public health admin-
istrator, told the Eagle on Thursday,
Jan. 6, that seven people of vari-
ous ages were hospitalized with the
virus.
She said the hospital was being
impacted by the virus on both the
front and back end.
“There are two ways that hospi-
tal systems get impacted,” she said.
“They get impacted on the front with
infected individuals, and they get
impacted on the back end with staff -
ing shortages due to staff becoming
ill with the virus.”
Both of those things happened
during the week, Lindsay said.
Lori Lane, the public information
offi cer for the hospital district, said
Blue Mountain Hospital would be
limiting its patients to one visitor per
day, except for end-of-life visits. At
the same time, she said, all other dis-
trict services would remain available
and operational as usual.
Lane said those interested in vir-
tual care options where applicable
were encouraged to discuss them
with their primary care provider or
registration staff .
She said those with COVID-re-
lated symptoms should call the hos-
pital ahead of time to prevent the
spread of the virus among patients
and staff and that the state’s pan-
demic protocols are still required
upon entry to the hospital.
With case counts soaring across
the country and the state, more
emphasis is now being placed on
testing.
Last week, Gov. Kate Brown
ordered 12 million at-home COVID-
19 tests. Lindsay said Grant County
would be receiving more than 1,000
tests altogether.
Lindsay said there are two tests
in each box, similar to those sold at
pharmacies.
According to Lindsay, hos-
pitals will receive roughly three
times as many tests as public health
departments.
In an email on Monday, Jan. 10,
Lane said she did not know how
many tests the hospital will be get-
ting or when it would receive its
shipment.
She said the hospital and other
entities are working on a plan with
the health department to distribute
tests throughout the county.
Meanwhile, the Oregon Health
Authority reported 56 hospitaliza-
tions on Monday in region seven,
which Grant County shares with
Deschutes, Harney, Klamath, Jef-
ferson, Klamath, Lake and Wheeler
counties.
The hospital has six negative
pressure rooms, otherwise referred
to as isolation rooms, for patients
infected with the virus, according
to Lane. Additionally, Lane said,
the hospital has a fi ve-bed COVID-
19 unit in the event of a surge in
hospitalizations.
According to Kelly McNitt, the
hospital’s director of nursing ser-
vices, Grant County’s soaring case
count mirrors what health offi -
cials see statewide and across the
country.
In a press conference on Friday,
Jan. 7, health offi cials with the state
noted that they expect the strain on
hospitals to peak at the end of the
month.
“We’re seeing some people get
pretty sick,” Lindsay said. “And it
is impacting a broad spectrum of
people, and we just really want to
emphasize the importance (of tak-
ing precautions against infection).”
with Prairie City for 20 years. Further
back, a veteran stationed in South
Korea just after the creation of the
Korean Demilitarized Zone. He said
he’s been shot at in both jobs. He col-
lects two pensions, but continues to
work because he enjoys keeping busy
and loathes idleness.
“I just hate sitting around,”
Spriggs said, walking toward the
Flying J, reminiscing of past days.
“I used to come here and eat all
the time, years ago. Those were the
good days. Awesome restaurant, we
ate — my daughter always met me
here, and we’d eat like crazy.”
His truck was parked along High-
way 30, several hundred feet away
from the truck stop. He said he
thinks this might be his last season
driving the route.
“I thought about quitting these
guys, but they said no,” Spriggs said,
fi lling up a coff ee cup.
He charmed his way into a
cheaper cup of coff ee from the
counter clerk, said it was a refi ll. He
wasn’t interested in watching TV. He
sat down at a Subway counter and
looked out the window. Rock ballads
from the ’80s played over the Flying
J’s sound system. The trucks outside
are packed in like sardines.
“I spent a lot of years here,”
Spriggs said, reminiscing. “I think
I might just make this my last run.”
live here, I live in Albuquerque. It
can be a dream job for somebody,
but the wife has to sign on for it, the
husband has to sign on for it, the kids
sign on for it.”
Truck drivers are paid per mile.
Typically, it’s under 50 cents per
mile, lower for newer drivers,
according to U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics numbers. When the trucks
aren’t moving, the drivers aren’t get-
ting paid, and the companies aren’t
turning profi ts. It’s a pressure that
incentivizes long hours and driving in
poor conditions.
“There are some companies that
will be ‘Go, go, go!’ no matter what,”
Payne said of the pressure to keep the
wheels turning. “With my company, I
don’t really feel that way.”
Time is the enemy. If you keep
still, you make no money. Boredom
creeps in. Some pass time with video
games, or movies, or books — or
hitting refresh on TripCheck or news
stations for an update on when the
roads open back up.
“I was supposed to be in Seattle
today,” Payne said, “and that’s not
happening.”
Extended stay
Michael Cruz had been at the
Flying J for two days due to clo-
sures. He was sitting sideways on
a lounge chair in the back watch-
ing television. Next to him, Randy
Payne, a truck driver of 10 years,
was watching the television as well.
Payne had been there for two hours.
A string of commercials played over
the TV. Payne wore a Pittsburgh
Steelers beanie, a well-worn and
stained refl ective vest, and a Blue-
tooth headset. He was checking his
phone, passing the time.
“Other than your CB receiver,
you have nobody around you,”
Payne said. “That’s it. It’s a mind-
set. Trucking is a lifestyle; it’s not a
job, it’s a lifestyle. You are living in
a walk-in closet. You live there for
two to six weeks at a time. You’re
away from your family — I don’t
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Conserved Water program
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citizens of the John Day
River Basin. The program is
administered by the Oregon
Water Resources Depart-
ment. It is completely
voluntary and certified water
right holders can withdraw
within five years from the
program if it does not per-
form as expected.
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owrd/WRDFormsPDF/ACW_
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