Baker Lake, 4
How to Cook a Turkey, 4
Baker Lake Restoration Project receives $100,000.
by students at Toybox Preschool
VOLUME 100
ISSUE 48
TIMES
FALLON County
fctimes@midrivers.com 406-778-3344
BAKER, MONTANA 59313
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Choose To Be Grateful By Fr. Philip Chinnappan St. John The Evangelist Church “Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with song of praise”. Psalm 95:2. I remember eating dinner in the glow of the burning lamps. We all dipped our bread into a common bowl of oil. A little bread, a little cheese, some salt, an apple, a little wine. But for the salt all the fruits of our own labors. And Gods. The enjoyment of fellowship and family at table and fireside. Laughter and the soft sounds of evening chores and talk. Discussing the work to be done tomorrow and next week. Telling the old tales, the good ones, and the family stories. Children learn who they are from
this and will remember. Maybe a song or two, all voices raised, some sweet, some not. Children prayers before bed, every night, from this comes faith. A cuddle and a kiss with your wife, to let her know she's beautiful. A snuggle with her beneath the warm blankets, face on a cool pillow, and a whispered prayer of thanksgiving before sleep takes you. God gave every man a brain, two hands and a heart. With these tools we can build all of these things. With all of these gifts, who needs more? Thanksgiving is family, Thanksgiving is friends, and Thanksgiving is food, from beginning to end. Thanksgiving is kindness, Thanksgiving is sharing, and Thanksgiving is showing love and car-
ing. So start each day with a grateful heart. Happy Thanksgiving from morning to night, hope whatever you do brings you joy and delight, hope family and friends and those you hold dear make magical memories you’ll cherish all year. God is great and God is good. And we thank God for our food, by God’s hand we must be fed, give us, Lord our daily bread. Amen. No sunshine, lots of rain. No warm days, snow again. No bugs or bees. No leaves on trees. You must remember, this is November. I wish you all Happy Thanksgiving Day and God bless you.
Fallon Medical Complex welcomes traveling doctor By Sherry Vogel Doctor Brian Sullivan, M.D. began his traveling career at Fallon Medical Complex in July 2016. He has worked a total of five stints so far, each stint lasting 7-10 days. Sullivan is a resident of Costa Rica. He began his career as an outreach physician in 2011, as he was transitioning back to the USA from having worked in the Marinas Islands. The chain of islands is located in the western North Pacific Ocean approximately 1,500 miles east of the Philippines. The young doctor is married and has four children. His wife and kids are at home in Costa Rica. His wife, a teacher by trade, home schools the children. Doctor Sullivan’s routine varies, but he often travels from Costa Rica, stops in east Texas and works, then travels on up to N.D. and Mont. and works, before returning home. He likes this routine so much that he has been working for the same physician’s traveling agency for five years now.
When asked, “What do you like least about traveling?” He replied, “Nothing really. It’s a good time to read a book.” He admits with four kids at home he doesn’t get much down time. When he arrives home he enjoys hiking and spending time with his family in the outdoors. Sullivan was born and raised mostly in California, but due to his father’s work he moved to Singapore and graduated from high school there. He then attended the University of California at San Diego going on to obtain his BA in Biology and MD at the University of Pittsburgh. The soft spoken doctor enjoys family practice and working in the E.R. He said that he became a medical doctor because he enjoys the combination of sciences and working with people. Doctor Sullivan has enjoyed working in Baker because he feels it is a great small town Doctor Sullivan enjoys traveling to Baker to prowith friendly people and natvide healthcare for the community. (Photo by ural beauty.
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FRIDAY, November 25, 2016
PRTC Town Hall scheduled in Baker ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. – A town hall meeting focused on the Powder River Training Complex is scheduled to be held in Thee Garage Showroom at 6 p.m., Nov. 30, in Baker, Mont. During the event, officials from Ellsworth Air Force Base will provide a presentation on PRTC operations and mitigation efforts, and be available to answer questions from any interested members of the public. Light refreshments and finger food will be offered throughout the event, which is hosted in partnership with the office of U.S. Senator Steve
Daines and Fallon County officials. The PRTC is a special use airspace that officially opened Sept. 17, 2015 upon its charting by the Federal Aviation Administration and military flying operations began Sept. 18, 2015. Military flights scheduled in the PRTC are published as FAA Notices to Airmen, or NOTAMS, and can be found online at https://sua.faa.gov/ and http://www.1800wxbrief.com, or by calling 1-800WXBRIEF (1-800-9927433). A map of the airspace can be
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Christmas Craft Night By Sherry Vogel All ladies are invited to attend a fun time of fellowship this coming Wednesday night at 6 p.m. First Baptist Church will be hosting their third annual Christmas Craft Night. This free craft night will offer area ladies the opportunity to construct a craft item to take home that very night. There are four crafts projects offered this year: a center-
piece, a barn wood wall hanging, a shabby chic burlap decoration or a simple crochet scarf. This is a fun time to relax and enjoy the company of other women while sharing holiday treats and creating a gift for Christmas giving. Donna Havens, of Baker, will be sharing an inspirational talk concerning a woman’s heart.
O’Fallon Community Choir Christmas Concert O’Fallon Community Choir presents the 38th Annual Christmas Concert on Sunday, Dec. 4, at 2 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Baker. The Community Choir will
also perform on Monday, Nov. 28, at Fallon Medical Complex dining room at 6 p.m.; and at Superior Care Villa Wednesday, Nov. 29, at 4:30 p.m.
Sherry Vogel)
What’s next for Fallon Medical Complex? By David Espeland, CEO, Fallon Medical Complex Shortly after Dr. Darryl Espeland made his public retirement announcement in September, it seemed that speculation about “what’s next for Fallon Medical Complex” started to build. Long before then, members of our medical staff advised us to explore new paradigms in provider staffing. They stated that the “old model” of recruiting a physician who stays in the same community for 30 years is going to be more difficult to obtain in the future. Looking at physician practices in communities our size around Montana and North Dakota, I would have to agree. Many have had physicians
like Dr. Espeland spend their entire lifetime in one place. But once that venerable physician retired, it was not easy to replicate. Thereafter, many communities had wonderful successes with mid-levels (physician assistants and nurse practitioners), but they have not been able to directly employ a physician for a number of years. It seems that all facilities, regardless of size, are scrambling to stabilize their physician staffing to address seemingly endless turnover. Whether we are talking about Glendive, Miles City or Billings, the notices about physicians setting up new practices look to be continuous. And those communities, perched on the Interstate with perceived greater
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amenities, can appear to be more attractive locations. How can we hope to compete? For starters, we have an impeccably well-maintained facility. Nearly every visitor to FMC comments on how nicely it is designed and maintained. We also have exceptional staff with uncommon longevity, each of which has been well-trained in their disciplines and professions. And we have state-of-the-art equipment that allows our staff to provide the best possible patient care in the safest possible environment. Regardless, it is very difficult to sell our community to newcomers because we are small and remote. We don’t have a Starbucks, WalMart or Subway nearby. It takes
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three hours to drive to the nearest mall or to catch a commercial flight into a major city. We don’t have homes for sale on every city block or a full subdivision of recently constructed houses. And we don’t have a movie theatre for our kids to hang out on a weekend night. Although we, who have lived in this community for years, have accepted not having these amenities, it is nonetheless, not always an easy transition for those moving to town. These concerns are also many of the same reasons that providers – both physicians and mid-levels – leave our community. Those who have left town have expressed that they felt very satisfied with their practice at FMC; it was both fulfill-
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ing and challenging. But inevitably, they have left because their spouse and/or families were unhappy (or there just wasn’t enough for a single person to do in Baker.) Talking with my peers in other rural Montana towns, this is the same set of circumstances that they are also battling. Physicians seem to love to work in their communities; they just don’t want to live there. The oil field model of commuting hundreds of miles to spend two straight weeks of working has seemed to permeate the minds of physicians. Is this the new paradigm? If so, it will be difficult to convince a community to adopt such a sweeping
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CLOSED Thanksgiving Day