Stories in this Regional News Roundup are excerpted from weekly newspapers from around the region. This is part two, with part one having appeared in Saturday’s Tribune.

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KAMIAH — Area residents detailed their experiences and damages from last month’s flooding incident at a meeting in Kamiah.

The public event attracting approximately 12 people was held April 30 at the Kamiah Senior Center to discuss the consequences of flooding and mudslides that occurred on April 14, according to organizer Carol Furey (Werhan) Bryant.

The meeting was also attended by emergency managers Dan Musgrave and Jerry Zumalt from Lewis and Idaho counties, respectively; and Ryan Bender, a North Central area field officer in the Idaho Office of Emergency Management.

County and state officials advised residents keep track of all expenses and cost estimates, including monies spent on supplies and rental equipment. Officials are also seeking information — including photos, video and correspondence on personal damage — to compile evidence to show the need for disaster help.

According to Bryant, meeting participants told of the mud — sometimes several feet thick — inside their homes and buildings, damages to roadways and plugged culverts. Photos on phones showed rock piles now replacing lawns, boulders that require heavy equipment to move and fish found in yards.

“People told of seeing water come down the mountain from the Nezperce area looking like Niagara Falls,” she said. “The water spread out and every gully is filled with running water still converging onto their properties. They cannot stop the water from flowing through their yards.”

According to Bryant, Musgrave explained the difficult process of having the governor make a disaster proclamation and how he and Zumalt are compiling needed information to facilitate this process. Once this happens, then the application process moves up to the president of the U.S. to make a presidential declaration.

She said one person stated the cleanup task is overwhelming, and to go through the paperwork process required is even more overwhelming.

“People are trying to handle overwhelming situations on their own,” she said. “There is a great need for equipment that can move large amounts of rocks and mud. The help is needed now and they cannot wait to go through the regular process.”

According to Zumalt, the American Red Cross (ARC) and other volunteer organizations and individuals have helped one affected Idaho County resident, and the ARC will try to coordinate additional volunteer assistance to others who have reached out.

This assistance is from Idaho VOAD (Idaho Volunteer Organization Active in Disasters) and includes both faith-based and secular volunteer organizations whose mission is to assist in disasters. The deadline was Friday to seek ARC assistance.

The April 30 meeting was moderated by Anthony LaRue.

Those with evidence of damage from the April 14 flooding can provide this to their respective county office:

Dan Musgrave: dmusgrave@lewiscountyid.org, Lewis County Emergency Management, 510 Oak Street, Room 7, Nezperce, Idaho 83543

Jerry Zumalt, jzumalt@idahocounty.org, Idaho County Courthouse, 320 West Main Street, Grangeville, Idaho 83530, (208) 983-3074.

— The Clearwater Progress (Kamiah), Thursday

Syringa board tackles need for renovation

GRANGEVILLE — As Syringa Hospital faces multiyear financial losses, the board of trustees is grappling with how to pay for needed infrastructure updates and provide the best care to the residents in its taxing district.

Rising supply costs, a shortage of health care providers and inadequate payment models and reimbursement for services are all reasons the hospital finances are challenging.

Syringa trustees voted at the April 26 meeting to obtain a consulting engagement not to exceed $36,000 to help figure out how to move forward with phase one of a $6-$8 million renovation.

All told, the facilities committee has mapped out the needs for an approximately $40 million master facilities plan. The committee consists of Abner King, board trustees Jane Carlson and Leta Strauss, Dave Applewood, Michelle Schaeffer, director of quality and risk management Lauren Wilson, director of human resources Kim Bixby, Dr. Matthew Told, revenue cycle director Carrie Forsmann, Curt Brimacomb, grant administrator Arne Walker, and maintenance head Gus Hoene.

According to February meeting notes, the first step of the project would be to relocate physical therapy to across from the Soltman Center, which would free up the land for the next phase.

The next step would be to demo the Hollopeter building, the current physical therapy building, and where materials management is located. Two surgery areas would then be built, and the pharmacy would be moved to where there could be a drive-through, making for additional clinic space and restructuring the way patients flow through.

Applewood presented a variety of financial findings at the April 26 meeting and reported he has been working with Alan Richman with Innovative Capital to try to find funding options for the plans.

“Based on our latest audited financials, he was not optimistic about our financing opportunities,” Applewood relayed to the board.

He presented a 20-year summary of the financial statements from 2004-2023. During that period, Syringa had a positive operating margin in only three of the years: 2004, 2007 and 2009.

But 13 of those years had a positive bottom line after non-operating income from taxes and grants. Syringa’s cash on hand has varied throughout the past two decades, from a low of $1.7 million in 2011 to $7.2 million in 2023.

The $36,000 consulting fee will help provide a business optimization initiative on financial and operation improvement, King said.

“The intent is to identify actionable performance improvement opportunities,” he said, focusing on the areas of the Medicare cost report, clinic service offerings, revenue cycle functions, provider deployment and distribution, department financial performance and organizational efficiencies.

“Once we have committed to these, lenders will be more favorable to financing our needs,” King said.

The master facilities plan will continue to be a topic at future board meetings.

— Lorie Palmer, Idaho County Free Press (Grangeville), Wednesday