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Find the latest updates and information on the COVID-19 pandemic at www.bitterrootstar.com Volume XXXVI, Number 19
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
www.bitterrootstar.com
In transition
Governor issues new directive to address the COVID-19 surge
By Michael Howell
Following a record-breaking week of new COVID-19 cases in Montana, Montana Governor Steve Bullock has issued a new directive. Effective Friday, November 20, the latest directive concerning the COVID-19 pandemic restricts the capacity of restaurants, bars, breweries, distilleries and casinos to 50% of normal operating capacity and they must close no later than 10 p.m. They can re-open after 4 a.m. It limits the number of people at a
table to six and mandates six feet of social distancing. Public gatherings and events where social distancing is not possible or not practiced are limited to 25 individuals. Anyone planning an event with more than 25 people should consult with their local public health office on a plan to implement adequate social distancing. The 25-person limit does not apply to bars, restaurants, breweries, distilleries, and casinos operating under the requirements set forth in Part I of the directive. The directive does not alter
existing requirements for houses of worship. Faith leaders are urged to continue to ensure that social distancing is possible and practiced for all in-person services, and to encourage the use of virtual services where possible. The directive does not alter existing requirements for public and private K-12 schools. The requirements described in the July 15 directive providing for the mandatory use of face coverings in certain settings and See COVID, page 2
Health board won’t enforce mandates during Covid surge By Michael Howell
Governor-elect Greg Gianforte received a COVID-19 briefing last week from Major General Matthew T. Quinn at Fort Harrison. “General Quinn has been at the helm of Montana’s response to this pandemic since March, and I value the experience he brings to my COVID-19 Response Team. While we’re both optimistic about a forthcoming COVID-19 vaccine, we also know there’s room to improve Montana’s response to this health and economic crisis, and Montanans are counting on us,” Gianforte said. Also participating in the briefing via Zoom was Jim Murphy, bureau chief of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention; Stacey Anderson, lead epidemiologist for the Communicable Disease Control and Prevention Bureau; Delila Bruno, division administrator for Montana Disaster and Emergency Services; and Dr. Greg Holzman, the State Medical Officer. Quinn, the adjutant general for Montana, will provide the governor-elect with regular briefings on COVID-19 and the state’s response. Governor-elect Greg Gianforte also met with newly-elected Republican legislative leaders, including Speaker-elect Wylie Galt (HD-30) and Senate President-elect Mark Blasdel (SD-4). “Montanans have given us a clear and historic mandate. They want to get our economy going again and change the way Helena does business,” Governor-elect Gianforte said. “I look forward to working with legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle to enact the Montana Comeback Plan.”
Stevensville schedules interviews for two vacant council seat The Stevensville Town Council has received four applications for the two seats on the council that were recently vacated following the resignations of Ward 1 Councilor Bob Michalson and Ward 2 Councilor Robin Holcomb. By the close of the November 18 deadline, four applications had been received, two applications for each ward. Wallace Smith and Paul Luding-
ton applied for the Ward 1 seat and Patrick Schourd and Sydney Allen applied for the seat in Ward 2. The two remaining councilors, Jaime Devlin and Dempsey Vick, who will make the appointments to fill the vacancies, held a special meeting last Friday at which they decided to interview all four applicants. The interviews will be conducted in a live streamed Zoom meeting, sched-
uled for November 30 at 7 p.m. The appointments could possibly be made in time to have the new councilors on board for the December 10 council meeting. Due to a timing issue an unrelated item will also be added onto the Zoom meeting agenda so that the council can take action on a lease contract for a hangar at the airport.
serve, according to Duce. She said those two sponsorships alone more than made up for the funds missed out on due to the COVID-19 restrictions and limitations. Then the MDMH Board of Directors matched every dollar to show their commitment to adding cancer services at the hospital. “Luckily, we still had creative community members come up with some amazing colorthemed events to raise money in memory of loved ones lost to a particular type of cancer or to honor someone currently fighting the battle,” said Duce. New color teams were formed this year including Team White for Lung Cancer and Team Orchid for Testicular Cancer. She said the response was emotional for many and successful as far as fundraising goes. For example, Team Orchid tripled the amount they used to raise for Team Pink
and the Darby Rodeo Association gave $7,500 from their events and raffles. “We’re really grateful for the enthusiasm from so many and the lives who have been honored and remembered by these new color teams,” said Duce. With the annual fundraiser behind them, now the tireless supporters of the hospital and its cancer patients is pushing forward with the continuing efforts at raising funds to add a Cancer/Infusion Center at the hospital. The idea was announced last January but was put on hold in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will involve a renovation and addition to the south side of the hospital including the main entrance. “Looking forward, we feel a deep responsibility to be successful with our fundraising as donations are directed to a new cancer and infusion center,” said Duce.
At its last meeting on November 10, the Ravalli County Health Board made it clear in its discussion with officials from the City of Hamilton that it supports the CDC and Public Health recommendations and guidelines concerning masking and social distancing, but the Board is not going to enforce any mandates. It was also made clear that the Board had no plans for addressing the current surge in COVID-19 cases. Public Health Officer Dr. Carol Calderwood told the Board that the county was seeing a higher percentage of positive test results for COVID-19. She said she was not privy to the numbers of available Intensive Care Unit beds at the hospital but that she knew they were transferring people from other departments who had experience in the ICU over there to help. She said there was also less availability for transferring patients to other facilities as well and that everyone was under a lot of stress. One positive note was that the new PCR tests for the health care workers that had been taking up to a 48-hour turnaround for results were down to 24 hours.
County Public Health Nurse Tiffany Webber gave the Board an update on her office and how it was steadily falling behind in its work despite hiring more help. Two new people were hired fresh out of nursing school. Webber said nurses were hard to find and that, as far as nurses go, Ravalli County
was “at the bottom of that barrel.” A third employee was hired to work on tracing and tracking contacts. Webber said the number of COVID-19 cases coming in were “more than we can get to.” See HEALTH, page 3
‘Colors of Cancer’ campaign gives way to fundraising launch for MDMH Cancer and Infusion Center This year’s Colors of Cancer campaign was quite a success, according to one of its main drivers, Stacie Duce, Director of Philanthropy at Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital. This year, despite the difficulties incurred during a pandemic, the campaign brought in over $55,000. After adding in the $1 for $1 match from the hospital, it brought the total contributions to $110,185. “While we were uncertain about the possibilities of some of our grassroots fundraising ideas this year, we ended the month exceeding our goals during the 31-day campaign,” said Duce. She said they received incredible support from First Interstate Bank and had a new sponsor of their 5K race, Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle. The Seattle hospital was celebrating its 100-year anniversary and supporting health-related initiatives across the region they
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“We know that every day we get closer to our goal is one day sooner that ground can be broken and ultimately, that more patients can receive infusion treatments close to home. It will impact so many families and community members, we are really anxious to reach our goal with haste.” Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital CEO John Bishop said the consequences of COVID-19 brought all the hospital’s major projects “to a screeching halt.” “With the success of the 2020 Colors of Cancer campaign in October, we want to keep that momentum of generosity and pick up where we left off, however, we truly will be dependent on the Foundation’s capital fundraising campaign before we break ground on the next phase.” Bishop said the new Cancer and Infusion Center will include three outpatient clinic exam
rooms, which will double as private infusion stations. He said the space is designed to be flexible for ongoing needs of patients and staff. It will also include seven private infusion bays with an open design and glass exterior walls and a shared infusion bay for a group of three patients. There will be an open kitchen counter space for patients to help themselves to complimentary snacks and beverages (critical for those treatments that can last 4 to 8 hours). The center area of the new space is a nurse’s station with support staff that can serve both clinical visits and infusion services. Bishop said it was smartly designed space for staff that is ideal for storage needs, entering/exiting the clinic without disrupting patient flow, and includes a lounge area. “It’s a complex project that’s intertwined with several other renovations at the hospital,” said
bishop, “specifically, the space in the center of the facility that served as the surgical center and operating rooms since the hospital opened in 1975. Our new state-of-the-art surgery center is fully functioning with a robotics machine and exceptional staff, it’s time to renovate that former space.” Because of recent improvements in the pharmacy inside the hospital, they now have mixing stations for chemotherapy drugs that can be mixed at the time needed and delivered to the clinic. “We are working on a multi-tiered staffing solution that will include several new full-time positions at the hospital,” said Bishop. “We want to partner with an experienced group of oncologists to enhance treatments for local patients and give them excel-
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