HEADLINES & HISTORY SINCE 1879
Goldendale, Washington
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 2023
Vol. 144 No. 14
$1.00
The KVH vote LOU MARZELES
SEE SAW: The crew at Allyn’s Building Center surprised Jim Allyn, right of center, Saturday morning with a birthday surprise—a long saw hand-painted by Anita Day. Jim turned 80 that day and has a crab and oyster feast birthday bash this Saturday at 5 p.m. at the American Legion. Tickets are $28 available at Allyn’s Building Center.
Police chief announces retirement RODGER NICHOLS FOR THE SENTINEL
ZACHARY VILLAR
MAKING THEIR CASE: KVH Director of Quality and Risk Karrie West, left, and CEO Leslie Hiebert answered questions at a meeting about KVH’s proposed bond measure last Tuesday at the Goldendale Grange.
KVH officials speak on vote at Grange ZACHARY VILLAR FOR THE SENTINEL
Representatives from Klickitat Valley Health (KVH) held a meeting with the public on Tuesday, March 28, at the Goldendale Grange to share information and answer questions regarding the hospital’s bond proposal. The 25year bond would be used to make various improvements to the hospital, including a new acute care and inpatient unit, more long-term care beds, and a new surgery unit. The proposed tax levy is 67 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value on homes of residents of the Klickitat Valley Health district. As with previous bonds, this bond has a property tax credit of up to $500 that can be applied to a patient’s medical bills annually. KVH CEO Leslie Hiebert began the Tuesday meeting with a Powerpoint presentation showing the history of the hospital. She highlighted how parts of the hospital are outdated. “In 1967 the operating room was added. This is the same operating room that we use today,” said Hiebert. “There’s been a little bit of remodeling. It was state of art in 1967.”
The updated surgery unit would offer expanded surgical options and provide for more locally based surgeries, and the two operating rooms would be equipped to support modern technology. Hiebert shared that the last bond proposition used to remodel portions of the hospital was passed in the year 2000 at $1.29 per $1,000 of assessed property value. Part of the bond passed in 2000 was used towards an expansion of the emergency department and the laboratory. “In December we had 589 ER visits,” said Hiebert. “If the community hadn’t been proactive in support of the hospital in 2000, we would be trying to see 20 patients a day out of that little space, and also trying to draw the labs and have all the equipment to run the tests, which we do locally. There’s no way that we would be able to do it. That’s what the community did in 2000 in support of this project.” She then shared a video that outlined the proposed expansion, a two-story 24,000-squarefoot wing at the southeast corner of the KVH campus facing E Collins. Director of Quality and
The Goldendale City Council meeting Monday night lasted less than half an hour, but it contained a surprise, as reported by police Chief Jay Hunziker: “Today I gave the mayor a written notice that my last day of employment is May 31 of this year, “
he said. “I will be retiring after 25 years of law enforcement with the City of Goldendale.” In addition to this announcement, he had an interesting fact to report: “I did a quick check on where we are as far as calls for service this year,” he said, versus where we were on this date last year with an interesting result. “At
this time this year.” he said, “we are at 731 cases now, and this time last year we were at 731 cases.” The only main item on the agenda was a public hearing on removing certain covenants and restrictions that were on the cityowned industrial park. No one from the public was willing to comment, and the matter passed unanimously.
EDITH GIDLEY
NATURE’S APRIL FOOL’S DAY GIFT: Mother Nature gave us a brief April Fool’s Day greeting Saturday morning with a fresh coat of stuff that isn’t supposed to fall in Spring.
Fire comes down from the Study shows economic mountain impact of hospital
The National Center for Rural Health Works released a study of the impact rural hospitals have on their communities. Its findings on Klickitat Valley Health (KVH) reveal the scale of impact the hospital has on Goldendale and its immediate environs. The following information is from the Center’s study of KVH 2022 statistics. Critical access hospitals (CAHs) are a critical part of the health system for many rural communities. A community, anchored by a CAH is responsible for a number of full- and part-time jobs and the resulting wages, salaries, and benefits. Research findings from the National Center indicate that typically 10 to 15 percent of the jobs in a rural community are in health care and typically rural hospitals are one of the top employers in the rural community. The employment and resulting wages, salaries, and benefits from a CAH are critical to the rural community economy. The health sector in a rural community economy. Direct Employment Impact: 275 Secondary Employment Impact: 94 Health care is important to the local economy in order to re-
See Bond page A8
tain/recruit the elderly (including retirees) to live in the local community. Health services and safety services are top concerns of the elderly in choosing where to live. The elderly are the largest user of health care and have had the largest growth in the past several years. Additionally, health care is important for retaining or recruiting industry and business to the local community. Decisions for industrial and business locations are significantly influenced by the availability of quality education services and health services. CAHs are a key part of the rural community health care system and the rural economic system. Total Employment Impact: 369 Direct Wages/Salaries/Benefits Impact: $26,663,342.00 Secondary Wages Salaries, and Benefits Impact: $5,066,034.98 Total Wages, Salaries, and Benefits Impact: $31,729,376.98 Using employment data from the user along with NCRHW averaged multipliers, the online application measures the eco-
See KVH page A8
ZACHARY VILLAR FOR THE SENTINEL
A spiritual revival was in full swing in Goldendale this weekend during the Fire on the Mountain gathering. The event took place in the exhibition building on the Klickitat County Fairgrounds from March 31 through April 2. The speakers were Sharell Barerra, Miguel and Rosa Zayas, and Mike Quantrell. Ben Smith led the workship. The event was emceed by Gene Tsubota. Saturday night’s event began with Christian music; then Barerra took the stage to preach. The hall was filled with people singing and rejoicing. Sheriff Bob Songer was in attendance that night. Spirits were high already, and the revival took them higher. The path to arrive at this event was not simple for some. Tiffany Kubitscheck had driven from The Dalles with her husband and two kids to attend. It was her first revival. “I’ve never been to a meeting like this before really, but I’m always looking for worship nights or prayer meetings or church services in general,” said Kubitscheck. “We go to church regularly but I’m always looking for more ways to encounter God and be with His people.” Their journey to the event was filled
ZACHARY VILLAR
SOULS IN SEARCH OF HEALING: While Sharell Barerra (in background with microphone) speaks, members of her team place their hands on a man from the audience. with obstacles. “We get met with a lot more opposition when we’re trying to go somewhere where we know God’s people are getting together to pray and worship and do ministry. All of a sudden all these things line up to make us feel like we shouldn’t come. My daughter gets upset, and she doesn’t want to come. And then the car dies on the way there.” Then the GPS in Kubitscheck’s car stopped working. “I totally lose service, the music totally disappears, and he’s [Kubitscheck’s husband] like, ‘Nope we’re going to do this, we’re going to find this. If God wants us to be there, we’re going to be there.’” Just as they found the correct road and turned onto it, the service returned to their GPS, and their music came back on. When asked why this kind of event attracted her, Kubitscheck said, “I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew that there would
probably be worship and there would be prayer, and I didn’t know if there would be sermons or what,” said Kubitscheck. “I’m just drawn to God’s manifest presence and where people are going to gather together for Him and focus on God. I love God and I want to be with His people.” She also said she wanted her husband to have the experience. Back in the main hall, Barrera was preaching to the large gathering. People walked to the front to be healed. Others placed their hands on them to encourage the Spirit to move in them. “God wants to encounter you today,” said Barrera. “He wants you to come into relationship with Him today. The days of the one-man show are over.” Throughout the event, people stopped to spontaneously embrace one another and to praise God. The feeling of
See Fire page A8