by David Boyle
News Director
Members of the San Juan County Commission waived some fees for the building permits for the new San Juan Hospital, approved infrastructure repairs at county buildings and set their meeting schedule for the coming year at their latest meeting.

By Marah Long
Contributing Writer
From 1941 to 1960, Monticello was home to a federally managed uranium mill. The mill used to take up residence on the south end of town in an area we now know as the Cancer Memorial Mill Site.
The mill site brought jobs and growth to the small town, but along with prosperity, it brought unknown and unwanted side-effects. Uranium has radioactive properties.

by Bill Boyle
SJR Editor
The San Juan Health District has secured $30 million in funding from the State of Utah to replace the San Juan Hospital in Monticello.
As a result, the oldest hospital in the State of Utah, built in the 1950s, will be replaced by a brand-new 41,000-square foot facility on 15 acres adjacent to the current hospital.

by David Boyle
News Director
Cancer screening for Monticello residents is once again being funded, but the funding is set to expire in May.
The Monticello Victims of Mill Tailing Exposure (VMTE) is once again providing a Cancer Screening Program funded by the federal government.

Farley Crofts with an Impact Award from the Office of Primary Care and Rural Health (PCRH).
The award is intended to recognize employees from rural healthcare facilities who embody the “Power of Rural.”
Crofts has worked as the San Juan Health chief financial officer for nearly eight years. He was selected for an Impact Award due to his leadership, devotion to community, and commitment to continuing education. 

by Bill Boyle
SJR Editor
The San Juan Health District is seeking funding for a new building to replace the San Juan Hospital in Monticello.
The health service district will request $34 million from the Utah Community Impact Board (CIB) at a meeting on November 2.

A training effort for a significant new state initiative to protect victims of domestic violence began in Blanding last week.
A number of state officials, including Lt Gov Deidre Henderson, attended the first training meeting of the domestic violence protocols that were approved during the most recent legislative session.

Gary Suttlemyre (left) was recognized for 35 years of service on local public health boards at the August 2 San Juan County Commission meeting. Commissioner Bruce Adams (right), Monticello Mayor Bayley Hedglin, Public Health Director Grant Sunada, and others recognized Mr. Suttlemyre for representing San Juan County on the Southeast Utah Board of Health from 1987 to 2015.

The Inaugural Indigenous Men’s Conference took place in Montezuma Creek on June 30, with fifty people in attendance and thousands tuned in to listen. 
The event sponsored by Utah Navajo Health System (UNHS) brought Indigenous men to speak at a first-of-its-kind gathering for Indigenous men.

Blue Mountain Hospital is excited to announce a new service, Interventional Radiology Injections, to help the community with chronic pain. 
Chronic joint or lower back pain does not discriminate. It can affect all ages, genders, and walks of life. No matter why you have it, pain is not something that anyone should have to live with.

Covid cases remain high in San Juan County, with 503 active cases reported as of February 8. 
The number of active cases is down slightly from a few weeks ago, when the county reached an all-time high of 661 cases on January 28.

It took more than a month, but San Juan Hospital has welcomed a New Year Baby for 2022.  Pacen Johnson Palmer made his arrival at 3:55 p.m. on February 4, 2022. Dr Jeanne Wigant delivered the 7 pound, 11 ounce, 20 inch baby boy.  
Pacen is the son of Morgan and Landon Palmer and joins brothers Parley and Platt at home in Blanding. He is the grandson of Ross Hurst, Tiffany Holt, and Preston and Mardawn Palmer

A week into 2022, Blue Mountain Hospital finally welcomes its New Years' baby. Julian Paul Descheeny joined the world on January 7, 2022, at 7:09 a.m. The baby boy weighs in at 7 pounds 9 ounces and measures 21 inches long. Mom Savannah Renee Cagle, and baby Julian are both happy, healthy, and getting used to their new life at home. Blue Mountain Hospital presented the New Years' baby and his family with a collection of gifts.

San Juan Public Health has reported two additional deaths of residents with COVID-19 in December. The reported deaths were of two women in their 60’s, one from the Bluff area and the other from the Blanding area.
The number of COVID cases remains high in San Juan County, with 152 active cases as of December 17. 
The 14-day case rate per 100,000 is 777 in the county and the seven-day case rate is 314 per 100,000.

The number of COVID cases remains high in San Juan County, with 180 active cases on November 30. Those numbers are slightly down from the 215 cases in the past week.
However, the total cases in November are higher than any other month in 2021, excluding January.
The 14-day case rate per 100,000 is 764.3 in the county, down from 1,058.3 last week. The seven-day case rate is also down from 555.3 per 100,000 to 457.3