MIDWEEK EDITION
Cub Scouts learning from selling see pg A2
Wednesday October 2 2019
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Rain, cooler temps ahead I
Brookings, Oregon
SERVING CURRY COUNTY SINCE 1946
Credit line helps with medical emergency department
Pressing issue
Staff Report
f you were out and about last Sunday, you might have been one of those caught in a downpour in Crescent City and Brookings. According to the National Weather Service, Crescent City received between one-quarter and one-half an inch of rain Sept. 29, while Brookings recorded nearly a quarter of an inch. “We have had many more active weather systems come through this area, with more rainfall this month, compared to previous years,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Brad Schaaf of Medford. The normal weather pattern for our region signals the usual September and October transition months from summerlike to fall conditions, but this current transition period has seen more rain than usual. “We recorded 4.23 inches of rain for September in Brookings and 2.85 inches in Crescent City, which is above normal,” Schaaf said. “Normal rainfall for September in Brookings is about 2.08 inches, and in Crescent City for that same period it’s 1.17 inches of rain.” That said, from Oct. 1, 2018 to Sept. 30, 2019 Brookings saw below-normal rainfall, at 71.44 inches, compared to the average of 76.54 inches. Crescent City, on the other hand, recorded 59.34 inches, above the yearly average of 57.3 inches. Schaaf said it’s hard to pinpoint specific reasons for the current weather patterns. “Science has yet to determine why,” he said, “and we aren’t expecting specific impacts from El Nino or La Nina, because they are in neutral positions.” Looking through data provided by the National More Cooler on Page A3
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urry Medical Network said it has entered into a partnership with Advanced Health in a major step to open an emergency department at the network’s Brookings facility, 500 5th St. Curry Health Network CEO Ginny Williams said Advanced Health has offered a short-term, $1.2-million line of credit to cover operational expenses until the emergency department’s services generate sufficient cash flow. The annual operating cost for the Brookings emergency department is projected to be $4,929,000, Williams said, to be offset by revenue generated by the department. Advanced Health is a coordinated-care organization developed in 2011 consisting of several medical groups, including ADAPT, Advantage Dental, North Bend Medical Center, Bay Clinic, Waterfall Community Health Center, Coast Community Health Center, Curry General Hospital, Bay Area Hospital, Southern Coos Hospital and Coquille Valley Hospital. Williams said Curry Medical Network had considered opening an emergency department in Brookings for many years, but faced significant financial constraints. “Curry Health Network reached out to multiple organizations to see if they had an interest in partnering with us to advance health care on the southern Oregon coast,” she said. “Advanced Health recognized the need, and that our organizational missions were aligned, and did not hesitate to offer financial assistance to open the emergency department.” Williams said Curry Medical does not yet have a confirmed date for the emergency department’s opening. “Once opened, the emergency department will be available to serve the medical needs of the public 24/7/365, and be staffed with highly-qualified and experienced emergency physicians, trauma- and critical care-trained registered nurses, and respiratory therapists,” she said. “Additional providers will be staffed to accommodate patient surge situations. This is intended to minimize wait times and to ensure people with life-threatening situations can be seen immediately.” Williams said that with the opening of the Curry Medical Center emergency care, it anticipates that 90% of all emergency department visits will result in patients receiving care and being discharged, while about 7% will be admitted to a hospital. An estimated 3% of patients will receive stabilizing treatment and be transferred directly to a facility that provides a higher level of care, she said. “When patients currently present with a heart attack, stroke, sepsis, severe respiratory distress, significant bone fracture, or abdominal emergencies and intestinal bleeding, our staff must rely upon ambulance services to transport the patient to an emergency department,” Williams said. “In the future, with the opening of Curry Medical Center emergency care, patients will receive full stabilizing treatment with rapid direct transfer, if necessary.” Williams said Curry Health Network is restructuring its care to patients and expanding its services in Brookings. That will include providing emergency medical care in the new department, while offering same-day appointments for office visits.
Glenn Garvin’s cider press is motorized to make the work easier. Courtesy photo.
‘Cider on Sunday’ History in action
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Linda Pinkham Staff Writer
pples will soon meet their destiny when they’re turned into cider during the Chetco Valley Historical Society Museum’s annual fundraiser Oct. 13 from 1-4 p.m. Board member Patty McVay thinks this may be the 25th year
they’ve held the event, which was started by her mother-in-law. It’s now the museum’s biggest fundraiser of the year and drew 250 to 300 people last year, she said. The venerable event is itself an historic reenactment dating back to the earliest pioneer days in this country. Apples were an important food crop for pioneers. In fact, apple saplings and seeds were
listed on ship manifests when colonists traveled to America from Europe. Columbia Distributing’s folklore history of hard cider tells of a cider press being on the Pilgrims’ ship, the Mayflower, in 1620. According to legend, as reported on Wikipedia, the ship was caught in More Cider on Page A3
Another hiker rescued F
Staff Report
or the second time in two weeks, firstresponders were called to rescue a hiker who had gone off-trail along a ridgeline between Gold Beach and Brookings. The latest rescue occurred Monday, according to a press release from Curry County Sheriff John Ward. At 1:42 p.m., the sheriff’s office received a 911 call from Sere Bauer, 40, who said she was stuck with her dog on a cliffside after slipping down a steep embankment near Natural Bridges. Bauer said she was a radiologist at Sutter Coast
Index
Classifieds.................B3-6 Crosswords...............A5 Calendar...................B1-2
Hospital in Crescent City. She said that she had parked her car at a wayside and walked a coastal trail for about half an hour before becoming stranded trying to make her way to the beach below. Bauer said in her call that she was holding onto shrubbery but was slipping. Curry County deputies and Oregon State Police responded, while the county’s Search and Rescue team was asked to bring rappelling equipment. Rescuers located Bauer’s car parked at the Natural Bridges wayside and an OSP trooper drove along the highway with his siren operating, hoping Bauer could hear it.
Weather HIGH LOW
Tues 61 44
Curry County Dispatch Deputy Synthia Westerman kept Bauer on the phone, reassuring her and reporting information between the hiker and the deputies and troopers. Curry County Search and Rescue hiked down to the steep, brushy cliff where they located Bauer and set up a rope system to bring her up. Bauer was about 200 feet below the team and 200 feet above the rocky beach below. Art Tarin rappelled down to Bauer and secured her with a climbing harness. Other Search and Rescue
Rescuers prepare to climb down a cliff to More Rescue on Page A5 help a hiker. Photo courtesy Curry County Sheriff’s Office.
Past four days
Mon 55 46
Sun 52 47
Sat 59 47
5-day forecast, tides and complete weather: Page B1
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Jeremy C. Ruark Pilot Editor
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