Hospital Gets Komen Grant for Digital Mammography

Sequoyah Memorial Hospital in Sallisaw recently received a $125,000 grant from the Susan G. Komen Foundation to install digital mammography. At the presentation are, from the left, Dr. Jennifer Scoufos, hospital chief of staff; Debbie Knoke, hospital administrator; Pam Ballard, Komen Foundation CEO; John Cripps, hospital board chairman; Roger Sharp, hospital board trustee; Dustin Walters, manager at Walmart, which is also a donor; Julian ‘Poncho’ Mendiola, Sallisaw Ward 3 City Commissioner; Beth Fair, hospital director of radiology; and Kim Ellis, Amy Walters and Amy Nichols, hospital radiology technicians.

Sequoyah Memorial Hospital hopes to have new digital mammography equipment installed and operational by this summer, said Beth Fair, the hospital’s director of radiology.

The hospital received a $125,000 grant from the Susan G. Komen Foundation recently to purchase the equipment. Pam Ballard, Komen Foundation CEO, presented the grant.

Fair said digital mammography images will be interpreted by the radiologists much faster and digital imaging reduces the patient call back rate. The images may be viewed on computer and lightened and darkened to enhance the image.

Fair said, “The incidence of breast cancer in our region of the state is three times the national average. Each year, Diagnostic Imaging and Associates analyze the mammogram outcome data from SMH and have determined this for several years.”

The Sallisaw hospital does about 700 mammograms a year, Fair said.

She explained that three technologists at SMH are trained and certified to perform mammograms through specialty education and training by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists. The total years of technologists experience in the SMH Imaging department is about 80 years.

Fair said the total cost for the new digital mammography equipment is $300,000, and the remainder of the cost will be covered by other donors and memorial funds, city sales tax funds, and potential other grants.

Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

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Blood Drive Slated for March 10

Oklahoma Blood Institute (OBI) will hold a blood drive from 1:45 to 5:45 p.m. March 10 at Walmart in Sallisaw.

The blood drive will be held on the OBI bloodmobile.

Donors will receive a free, vintage-style 40th anniversary “Hero” t-shirt in their choice of colors, either blue, purple or green.

OBI is a non-profit, independent blood center that now serves more than 160 hospitals, medical facilities and air ambulances statewide.

“Oklahoma Blood Institute is dedicated to continuing our legacy of health, service, community and innovation,” said John Armitage, M.D., Oklahoma Blood Institute president and CEO. “Forty years ago, Oklahoma Blood Institute was established with the goal of saving local lives and serving our local hospitals. We could not accomplish that without the real heroes, our selfless blood donors.”

Appointments to donate blood are not required but can be made by visiting obi.org or calling Greg at 479-652-2362.

Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

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Osborn to Shelve Bill on Selling GRDA

State Rep. Leslie Osborn (R-Mustang) said Wednesday that she is pulling her bill to outline how the state could divest of the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) should it become necessary.

State Rep. John Bennett (R-Ssallisaw) stated that he was instrumental in getting House Bill 1852 pulled from consideration by the House Appropriations & Budget Committee, effectively killing the measure for this legislative session. The bill would have outlined how the state could divest of the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA).

“Selling the GRDA to a private entity would have negatively impacted people in my district and in other areas of the state who depend on the low electricity rates provided by this non-profit entity,” said Bennett. “I have been working with House leadership and the author of the bill and am pleased that they were willing to put this bill aside for the good of the people.”

House Bill 1852 was awaiting consideration in the House Appropriations and Budget Committee, which Osborn chairs.

“House Bill 1852 was intended to create a practical path to study how the state could unlock the value of Grand River Dam Authority,” Osborn said. “The issue is emotional for many in the area served by the GRDA, and my bill created a lot of good conversation regarding this issue, but also a lot of confusion and uncertainty. This discussion needs logic and reason, so I am pulling the measure and will request an interim study where lawmakers can study this issue and other state-owned assets in much deeper detail and hear from many more voices than the short legislative session allows.”

Last month Sallisaw City Commissioners voiced their opposition to the sale or consideration of sale, of GRDA. GRDA provides electric power to the city, which then sells power to the city’s residents, businesses and industries.

In a resolution opposing the possible sale of GRDA, city officials noted the sale was “a move that could be devastating for Sallisaw and other GRDA communities who purchase electric from GRDA and resell to their customers. GRDA not only supplies low cost power to its customers, but also provides avenues for communities to grow and prosper.”

But the pulling of HB 1852 does not mean the GRDA sale is off the table for good.

Osborn continued, “The state is experiencing a financial crisis with no end in sight. The only responsible way to approach our current fiscal situation is to examine every possible option for generating revenue for our state. As I have said on many occasions, our goal was not to divest the state of GRDA, but to start a discussion and develop an orderly process to determine if it would be prudent and plausible to do so, if necessary. We will continue to take a hard look at this issue until we have honestly answered this question.”

Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

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Vann Celebrates 20 Years as State Farm Agent

Shannon Vann, State Farm Insurance agent in Sallisaw, celebrated 20 years as an agent Wednesday with a reception at his office.

Vann said he became a State Farm agent in Sallisaw on March 1, 1997, joining the business owned by his dad, Ken.

Shannon Vann began with State Farm Insurance in 1991 as a claims representative in Lawton.

But Ken Vann was thinking about retirement, and Shannon Vann came home to join the Vann agency on March 1, 1997, after completing the agent training program.

“I wanted to stay in Oklahoma,” Vann said, “and dad had made the decision to retire.”

Along the way home, Shannon met and married his wife, Cheryl. The couple has been married 28 years. They have three children, Nathan, 27, of New York City, Riley, 22, of Boise, Idaho, and Marissa, 21, who is in her final year at Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Ga.

During the reception Wednesday, Vann visited, quipped and laughed with family, friends and customers he has met along the way. Being a constructive part of the community is important to Vann. He served as Sallisaw mayor from 2002 to 2014 and just finished another stint as president of the Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce.

Being involved helps the community to grow, Vann said. “From a business prospective, that helps your business grow.”

Being involved is more that than, Vann said.

“Dad always set a good example for us, like being a Little League Baseball coach and being in Jaycees. We were always raised to give back to the community,” Vann said.

Vann said he intends to just continue on and be involved in the community. And he has one good reason for that.

“It’s home,” he said.

Vann concluded by thanking all his friends and customers for visiting the reception and for their business.

Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

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Temporary Lockdown at Gans School Lifted

Gans School was on a “temporary lockdown,” this afternoon and parents told to come pick up their students if concerned, after a student reported there was a suspicious package in a car parked at the school near the football field.

School Superintendent Larry Calloway said students were kept in secure areas away from the suspected item and students were not considered to be in any danger.

Sequoyah County Sheriff Larry Lane and deputies were dispatched and are at the school now. Lane said a suspicious item was spotted in a car parked on the school grounds.

Calloway said the package was not a bomb. It was believed to be a military flare.

Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

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Muldrow Man Arrested

A 37-year-old Muldrow man was charged in Sequoyah County District Court in Sallisaw on Feb. 22 with possession of a controlled dangerous substance and misdemeanor counts of drug paraphernalia and obstructing and resisting an officer.

Brian Blount is free on a $9,000 bond.

According to the Sallisaw Police Department report filed with the charges, Blount was seen by officers at the hospital in Sallisaw and was identified as having a warrant for his arrest. When the officer tried to stop Blount, he ran south, the report indicates 

The officer then used his Taser when Blount refused the order to stop. The charge hit Blount in the back. Blount, who was laying on the ground at that time, was ordered to turn over and refused, and was Tasered again. Blount then told the officer, “he had given up,” and was handcuffed and arrested.

Blount was placed in the back seat of the officer’s patrol car, and, when observed later, was seen to have a small plastic bag near his feet on the vehicle’s floor. The substance in the plastic bag field tested positive for methamphetamine.

Blount was booked into the Sallisaw jail where he was booked without incident.

Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

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Storm Causes Power Outage, Roof Damage

A flying roof, off a portion of the county barn on County Highway 17 on Sallisaw‘s north side, hit three power poles and broke two off at the ground, disrupting power to homes and the Sallisaw Water Treatment Plant early Wednesday. 

Sallisaw City Manager Clayton Lucas said the city’s electric crews were busy all night working on replacing power poles and reattaching power lines, and had the power restored by mid-morning. He said about 60 customers were without power.

Lucas said the water treatment plant crew also had to report to work early to reset equipment at the plant. A generator kicked on at the plant and kept it running, he added.

Sequoyah County Commissioner Jim Rogers, District 3, said only a portion of the roof was swept away in the early morning storm, and the building is insured. He expected repairs to be made quickly. No other damage was reported at his county barn.

Lucas said no other damage was reported in the city as of 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Rogers said he had reports of a few trees down.

“We’ve been out driving the roads,” he said, “and haven’t seen other damage.”

He said it was reported that a shed on Dwight Mission Road, west of Sallisaw, may have lost a roof during the storm.

Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

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