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Community News, Local News

Northern Inyo Hospital Appoints New Chief Nursing Officer

PRESS RELEASE FROM NORTHERN INYO HOSPITAL:

Nature’s season of change will serve as the backdrop for change in nursing leadership at Northern Inyo Healthcare District. As veteran nursing leader Tracy Aspel prepares for her October retirement, the District named Allison Partridge as its new Chief Nursing Officer, effective mid-September.

When asked what she hopes to bring to the District, Partridge’s list of aspirations is clear. “I really hope to continue the work that Tracy, and those before her, started. I’m really striving for continuous process improvement, continuous excellence in care, and striving to ensure that we’re meeting the needs of the community.”

That last point – meeting the community’s needs – impacted the new CNO as she said the words. “Meeting those needs is huge,” she said. “We’re rural, we’re far away from any major healthcare facility. We have to work with our community partners to make sure we’re doing the best we can for those who count on us every day. It’s that simple.”

NIHD’s Interim Chief Executive Officer Kelli Davis said Partridge has proven herself to be an inclusive leader who takes into consideration differing viewpoints. “I find her to be a very positive and authentic person who stands by doing what’s best for the whole, whether that’s a single nursing department or the entire District. Allison works hard to help others achieve their goals and meet their aspirations in growth and development. I look forward to seeing what she brings to the District in the next year.”

Partridge currently serves as NIHD’s Director of Nursing for Emergency and Inpatient Services. That has put the 20-plus year nursing veteran at the forefront of the District’s pandemic response, alongside Aspel, Davis, and Drs. Will Timbers and Stacey Brown.

Bolstered by a 16-member incident command and the support of District physicians and employees, Partridge and these leaders find themselves tackling both basic and complicated needs.

“As far as the District’s response to the pandemic, I think we are spot on,” she said. “We’ve got a very structured, organized format that we’re following in addressing this. We assure we stay up-to-date and apprised of the most current information from both Centers for Disease Control and California Department of Public Health. We’re using that information to help drive the decisions we make. It’s been a lot of work and is continuously changing, but we’ve adapted, and we’ve stayed focused.”

Before joining NIHD almost three years ago, Partridge spent most of her career at San Pedro’s Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center. She credits Providence’s in-house leadership development program with preparing her to serve as NIHD’s Chief Nursing Officer.

Partridge holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Nursing. She has extensive training in lean leadership, six sigma, and mission-focused leadership. Of all of her education, Partridge is most proud of her Master’s degree with an emphasis on leadership, and not for a reason most expected. She earned her Master’s as a working adult and mother. “I have a deep respect for anyone trying to juggle all that. It was not easy,” she said.

As for her years with NIHD, Partridge values the time she spent getting to know the District, the communities it serves, and the nursing teams she works with. “I look at our teams, and I see so much potential and such great opportunity, and that’s really exciting,” she said. “Throughout the District, you see this really heightened desire to achieve excellence, and together, I know we can do it.”

Partridge also understands the love the community has for its nurses. “We are a small community, and for the nurses, that brings this deep desire to really provide excellence in care,” she said. “I genuinely think that’s because here, as a nurse, you often know the person you are caring for, or someone who loves them, and people respond to that.”

Community News, Local News

Inyo County Could Approve New Regulations on Certain Tobacco Products

Photo Credit: Getty Images

The Inyo County Board of Supervisors has plans to approve regulations which they hope will restrict adolescent access to tobacco products at Tuesday’s meeting.

Anna Scott, the Inyo County Health and Human Services Deputy Director gave a presentation to the board, and recommended regulating the sale of some tobacco products.

There are three components the department wants to see when it comes to preventing children from purchasing tobacco products. According to county documents,“1) a flavored ecigarette or “vape” ban; 2) a requirement that all little cigars be sold in packs of 20 and cigars be sold in packs of 5 (except cigars that cost more than $5 each); and 3) a requirement for minimum pricing of $8 per pack for cigarettes and little cigars and $5 per cigar.”

Scott says Inyo County’s high school students can easily obtain tobacco paraphernalia, and vape use among Inyo County’s youth is more than three times higher than the state average. The Deputy HHS Director also told the supervisors that according to a survey the department conducted with 9th and 11th graders, obtaining tobacco products is “very easy.”

In order to enforce a ban on these products, Health and Human Services requested the board also adopt a Tobacco Retail License ordinance, which will help create a structure for cracking down on illegal tobacco sales.

The board will not charge retailers for these licenses. Due to available funds in the county budget, the application cost will be covered.

Inyo County zeroed in on the sale of tobacco that costs under five dollars. The big item under five dollars the supervisors wanted to address, was the sale of cigarillos and blunt wraps, including popular brands like Swisher, Zig Zag, and Backwoods. County Health and Human Services officials say that these brands are targeting children with flavors such as grape, cotton candy, and blueberry.

According to Tobacco Control Supervisor, Eryn Clark, the sale of these cigarillos has increased dramatically. “The sale of blunts like Swisher Sweets has grown 280%.” Clark said.

As of right now, it looks like the Board of Supervisors will only implement part of what the Health and Human Services Department wants. There will be no outright ban on flavored tobacco, but that could happen in the near future.

With that being said, the board may vote to increase the price of cigarettes to a minimum of eight dollars per pack, along with cigarillos, which will now cost a minimum of five dollars per package. The cigarillos must also be sold with a minimum of six per pack. Additionally, flavored vape E-liquid will be banned in Inyo County.

DISCLAIMER: The story has been changed. Inyo County has not made the ban official, and it still needs to be voted on.

Community News, Local News

Hiker Missing in Death Valley

HUNTER CANYON, CA. December 4, 2019 – On November 27 (evening), Inyo County Sheriff’s Office received notification by Death Valley National Park of a missing hiker, Rolin Bruno, a 76-year old man from Arrowbear, CA. Bruno planned on hiking up Hunter Canyon out of Saline Valley to cache water for a future hike in the Spring, prior to meeting family members at Saline Valley Hot Springs on November 27. When Bruno did not arrive, family members notified the campground host. Bruno was hiking alone. (It is unclear whether Bruno’s hike occurred on Monday November 25 or Tuesday November 26.)

 

On Thursday November 28 a severe winter storm impeded search efforts. Aerial reconnaissance was requested for Friday November 29; CHP Inland Division Air Operations initially responded, however a fog layer made flying impossible in the morning. China Lake Naval Air Station was requested to provide aerial support once the fog layer lifted; Inyo Search and Rescue (SAR) members were on board providing additional assistance.

 

Saturday November 30, 11 Inyo SAR members conducted extensive search assignments in the area. Aerial searching was provided by CHP Inland Division Air Operations. A drone was deployed in order to reach more remote areas and provide additional search information to the team.  Due to extremely icy conditions on Saline Valley’s “South Pass”, the team was almost unable to drive out of the search area.  Sunday December 1, winter weather disallowed flying or driving into the search area.

 

On Monday Dec 2, as weather cleared, two Inyo SAR members were hoisted from CHP H-80 into more remote areas high in the search zone to check structures and mining ruins. Additional aerial searching was provided by CHP Inland Division Air Operations with Inyo SAR members on board.

 

Tuesday December 3, six Inyo SAR members were inserted into the search area by Kern County Air Operations.  SAR members from China Lake Mountain Rescue Group drove into the search zone and combed lower segments of the area. Inyo Sheriff’s Office deputies also drove to the sight and conducted investigations at the vehicle and searched nearby mining cabins.

 

Today winter weather has hampered search efforts.  Overhead planning teams are working on the next phase of the search operation. If anyone from the public has seen Bruno you are encouraged to contact Inyo Sheriff at 760-878-0383 option 4. Bruno is 5’11”, 170lbs, white male, long grey hair, grey beard, brown eyes, possibly wearing a flannel or denim shirt and blue jeans.

 

Aerial assistance has been provided by: CHP Inland Division Air Operations H-80, China Lake Naval Air Station VX-31, and Kern County Air Operations Air 5. Ground searching has been provided by: Inyo SAR, Kern County SAR, and China Lake Mountain Rescue Group. Additional support has been provided by Death Valley National Park and CalOES.

 

Community News, Local News

The Fate of the Bishop Nursery Property Revealed

Rumors have been swirling about the fate of the property where the Bishop Nursery stands. There has been speculation that the property will turn into an apartment complex,  or affordable housing for low-income families. However, according to Bill Parris, the owner of the property, none of these rumors are true.

“The plan is to build standard-sized family houses, we are not building apartments and we are not building anything other than houses in a town that is in dire need of more houses.” Parris said.

Parris Construction Corporation based out of Santa Barbara have been permitted to build up to fifteen houses on the property. However, the plan is to preserve the nursery and build twelve houses instead.

“We have been approved to build fifteen houses by the City of Bishop.” Parris said. “Although that was the original plan, I have seen how important the Bishop Nursery is to this community, and I am going to do everything I can to make sure we can keep the nursery in tact.”

Parris still faces challenges with the city to assure his vision comes to fruition, but when asked about the chances of a mixed-use development that includes the nursery, he said there is, “an eighty-percent chance that we can preserve the business.”

The Bishop Nursery will face a few changes  if it is included in the building plans. Operations of the business will be on a “smaller-scale” with trees and other large plants no longer being sold.

Originally, the idea was to try and save the nursery in it’s current state. Parris, the current owner of the land loaned $50,000 to the former owner of the Bishop Nursery to try and save the business. Unfortunately, the President of Parris Construction Corporation noted that it was “not possible” as the business began to fall into disarray.

Progress on the new housing development is still very much in the early stages, with some of the most recent work involving the removal of some trees on the property.

Liz Merrill, the General Manager of Bishop Nursery discussed why it was necessary to remove the trees saying, “The trees needed to be cut in order to create an access point to Home Street as all of the property will be utilized.” She added that although they are removing trees right now, they will be replenished in the future. “Sixty-one trees will be removed, but over two-hundred will be planted.”