The Grant County Emergency Operations Center will receive $125,060 in funding for its coronavirus response team to hire additional staff members and purchase supplies, including COVID-19 test kits.

Emergency Management Coordinator Dave Dobler requested staff from the county with specialized skills. This included Ryan Palmer from the Road Department to the position of Planning Section Chief.

Additionally, Dobler asked that County Commissioners Sam Palmer and Jim Hamsher increase the amount of hours they work at the EOC. Palmer serves as the public information officer while Hamsher serves as the court liason.

Dobler, who hired four new staff members in the finance department of the EOC at $16 per hour, said he needed four more staff members in that department to track expenses for Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursements. County Judge Scott Myers said the EOC needs to give those duties to furloughed county staff in lieu of hiring additional staff.

Dobler said he also needs to hire two full-time section chiefs at $24 per hour.

Hamsher asked Dobler to give a “Reader’s Digest” rundown of who is on the medical team of the EOC.

Dobler said in the medical PIO positions, he has Jessica Winegar and John Combs from the Grant County Health Department. Dobler said in the Medical Work Group, he has Community Counseling Solutions CEO and County Health Administrator Kimberly Lindsay, and from the Red Cross, he has Jim Spell.

The medical safety officer is Marsha Pereira, from Blue Mountain Hospital District’s Home Health. Dobler said Blue Mountain Hospital CEO Derek Daly is also involved.

Palmer said there are mental health specialists as well on the medical team, including staff from Step Forward, an individual needs agency in downtown John Day.

Dobler said he is working with the medical team to find other sources for testing kits and that he passed along information for a company in Texas that can do both testing for the virus and testing for virus antibodies, which is testing for people who have previously had the virus.

Dobler said he is working on getting more personal protective equipment to the county. He ordered 395 masks and 50 face shields for nine agencies and approximately 100 volunteer firefighters.

He said the state department of corrections is generating homemade masks. He added there is now a standardized pattern that will catch droplets.

Logistics Section Chief Steve Fletcher walked the county through the EOC’s website, gc-or-covid-19.info.

Fletcher said the website includes links to the Small Business Administration, unemployment and other resources.

“Community Counseling Solutions and the Health Department is aware of the website, and there are links to their websites, and they give us daily updates for the site,” Fletcher said.

There are also links to the Oregon Health Authority, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state COVID-19 response website.

Fletcher said the EOC operates a call center from 8 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays at 541-575-0520.

Dobler said there is a retired nurse on hand, Pereira, who can take basic medical questions while more involved medical questions get referred to the health department or hospital.