thePyramid We A r e S a n p e t e . c o m
An Edition of the
| www.heraldextra.com
POSTAL CUSTOMER Presorted Standard U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 372 Provo, UT ECRWSS
We A r e S a n p e t e . c o m
Wednesday, July 21, 2021 • Vol. 130, No. 28 • Free
Gunnison Valley Hospital names new CEO
GUNNISON — The Board of Directors of Gunnison Valley Hospital has named Brenda Bartholomew as its new chief executive officer. She has worked closely for the past 10 years with the hospital’s current CEO, Mark Dalley, who is retiring at the end of this year. Bartholomew, who has been with the hospital for 27 years, brings a depth of both medical and executive experience that will help Gunnison Valley Hospital continue to achieve its mission of providing high-quality, community-based healthcare.
Bartholomew has served as Gunnison Valley Hospital’s chief nursing officer for the past 24 years. In this capacity, she has gained extensive experience in managing the nursing team, surgical services, laboratory, respiratory, enviDailey ronmental services and the dietary department. “We conducted a thorough search over the past few months and interviewed several impressive local and national candidates,” said
ASK AN EXPERT
Kim Pickett, chair of the Gunnison Valley Hospital Board of Directors. “Brenda was the unanimous choice because of her strong experience coupled with her knowledge of our community and passion for Gunnison Valley Hospital. She understands the mission, vision and values, and is poised to build on the success achieved by Mark Dalley’s leadership.” Bartholomew has a master’s degree in healthcare organizational leadership and management. She has been recognized locally and nationally for her leadership roles, including one
with the Utah Office of Primary Care and Rural Health (OPCRH), which awarded her with the COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Award for her outstanding efforts in guiding the hospital through the pandemic. “In my 10 years as CEO, I’ve been impressed with Brenda’s ability to build trust among leadership, work well with employed and partner physicians, improve processes, and increase employee satisfaction,” Dalley said. “She never wavers on ensuring that each patient receives the highest level of quality care.”
Brenda Bartholomew, recently appointed CEO of Gunnison Valley Hospital.
SPRING CITY
Drought Thompson named Citizen of the Year doesn’t have to damage yards With proper care, shortage won’t lead to permanent harm BY TAUN BEDDES
USU Extension horticulturist
Utah is currently in one of the worst droughts since recording began in the late 1800s. Many reservoirs are at an all-time low, and some are drying up completely. Because of this, a statewide alarm was sounded by the governor asking the public to conserve water. Many areas in central and northern Utah are being asked to irrigate lawns no more than twice a week, and in southern Utah, no more than three times a week. An irrigation cycle is considered 20 minutes for pop-up sprinklers and 40 minutes for impact rotor sprinklers. Even with this reduced irrigation schedule, lawns can stay fairly green but will develop brown patches; however, the brown patches do not mean the lawn is dying. Lawns go dormant with excessive heat and reduced water, which means the roots and crowns are alive and healthy even though the blades turn brown and stop growing. Lawns can survive in a dormant state with as little as ½ to 1 inch of irrigation monthly. After the last severe drought ended, Utah State University Extension horticulturists saw a wide variety of trees and shrubs with disease and pest infestations — particularly pine and spruce trees. To prevent this from
Virginia Thompsen was recognized as this year’s Citizen of the Year at the Saga of Spring City Program held on Tuesday, July 20. Virginia will also serve as the Pioneer Day Parade Grand Marshal on Saturday. The parade begins at 10:00 am. Virginia was born on November 24, 1932 and will be 89 years old this November. She is the daughter of Charles and Adalaide Thompsen. She has four brothers and one sister. She attended elementary and junior high school in Spring City and then graduated from North Sanpete High School in Mt. Pleasant. Virginia taught at North Sanpete High School for 7 years and Preston Idaho High School for 31 years, making a total teaching career of 38 years. She taught Type, 3 different styles of Shorthand and PE over the course of her career. She also had the opportunity of teaching classes to disabled students and she states she really loved all those students and enjoyed working with them. She left North Sanpete High School after teaching seven years to pursue a master’s degree at Utah State University and that required her to move to that area. After her retirement in 1992, she returned home to Spring City to live in the family home. She still takes care of her mother’s rose garden and apple tree orchard. After a secret grandparent activity with her Spring City LDS Ward Young Women, she became a special grandma to Brianna Williams. They later became visiting teaching companions where Brianna was able to witness Virginia’s dedication to serving others. Virginia continues involvement with Brianna’s family through Christmas and birthday cards and participation in family functions. Virginia loves to play cards with her favorite being 5 Crowns. Brianna notes she is a rule enforcer and extremely competitive and always says “Ya don’t vary on the rules, ya play the game the
Virginia Thompsen, Spring City Citizen of the Year and Grand Marshall. way the rules say”. Virginia is a faithful member of the LDS Church and spent one year as an ordinance worker in the Logan Utah LDS Temple and 20 years as an ordinance worker at the Manti Utah LDS Temple. She also set a goal to complete temple work for 100 names every year. She has served as a faithful visiting teacher and sang in the
ward choir. Virginia spends part of each week with her only surviving sibling, a 90-year-old sister who lives in Kearns Utah. Often on her travels home from Kearns, she will stop at Kentucky Fried Chicken and pick up a few baskets of chicken to deliver to people in town who might need some help with an evening meal.
Virginia is a very independent, hard working lady and a wonderful neighbor and friend to all. She is very generous and kind. If you ask her how she is doing her favorite line is “Good as I can Be”. We appreciate the service Virginia has given to our community over the years and we are honored to recognize her as this year’s Citizen of the Year.
Please see DROUGHT, Page A2
105 S Main St, Ephraim, UT 84627 | 435-283-4033 | jorgchev.com