{"id":18823,"date":"2022-10-19T02:10:57","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T02:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=18823"},"modified":"2022-10-18T20:46:20","modified_gmt":"2022-10-18T20:46:20","slug":"kudos-amongst-the-crowds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2022\/10\/19\/kudos-amongst-the-crowds\/","title":{"rendered":"Kudos Amongst The Crowds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Post-pandemic life, a tale of two cities<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Eric Valentine<\/em><\/p>\n

‘It\u2019s easy\u2014and legit\u2014to look around the Valley these days and wonder if this idyllic resort area\u2019s best days have come and gone. According to USAfacts.org, the population of Blaine County, Idaho, in 2021 was 24,766, 16.3% up from the 21,296 who lived there in 2010. For comparison, the U.S. population grew 7.3% and Idaho\u2019s population grew 21% during that period, the nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization said.<\/p>\n

And it has taken its toll on everything from finding a place to live to getting a seat at your favorite restaurant. The impacts of the pandemic and the lockdown are also still being felt in surreal ways. For instance, as a gallon of gas was approaching $5, vehicles became living places for the working class.<\/p>\n

It\u2019d be dismissive to overlook the struggles happening everywhere along the Big Wood River, north to south. But amongst the crowds and confusion, key areas of the Valley experience are producing a number of kudos for organizations and individuals here.<\/p>\n

Resorting to Success<\/b><\/p>\n

Last week, Sun Valley Resort learned of its three-peat as North America\u2019s No.1 ski resort, as named by SKI Magazine\u2019s Annual Ski Resort Awards. The annual Resort Guide is based on the results of the Reader Resort Survey, the most comprehensive and longest-running rankings in the industry. The year-round destination resort was able to claim the title for the third consecutive year thanks to it being\u00a0 <\/span>ranked No. 1 in the West for Overall Satisfaction, Lifts, Dining, and Local Flavor. The resort also ranked highly in the categories of Grooming, Guest Services, Lodging, Apr\u00e8s, Nightlife, and Family Friendly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to have captured the hearts of so many skiers, riders and visitors to the resort, and to be honored with this incredible award three years running,\u201d said Pete Sonntag, general manager and VP of Sun Valley Resort. \u201cIt\u2019s truly a testament to our team\u2019s dedication to the guest experience, and to our wider community for making Sun Valley a place everyone feels welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a thank you to the community, Sun Valley Resort will be hosting a Pray for Snow party on Nov. 12 from 4-8 p.m. to celebrate the honor and to cheer on the coming of winter. Additionally, the resort is embarking on a multi-year improvement plan focused on an enhanced guest experience. The proposed projects in the first phase will benefit the recreational experience on Bald Mountain by improving skier circulation, increasing the accessible skiable terrain and improving both lift and snow quality.<\/p>\n

As part of the base area improvement, Sun Valley Resort will also be expanding the patio area of Warm Spring Lodge for efficient guest flow and improved \u201capr\u00e8s-scene\u201d accessibility. With exemplary guest experience at the heart of the resort\u2019s multi-faceted development and evolution plan, a partnership with land and environmental agencies, National Forest Foundation, Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service is under way. Designed to improve overall forest health and decrease fire risk on Bald Mountain, the initiative benefits skiers by opening up 79 acres of new gladed terrain this season alone. In its commencement year, the Bald Mountain Stewardship Project is a first-of-its-kind innovation in resort development and environmental protection that is slated to continue for 5-7 years on and around Bald Mountain.<\/p>\n

The Warm Springs area of Bald Mountain will also see a lot of action going into the 2023-24 season with U.S. Ski & Snowboard having recently announced a two-year deal with Sun Valley Resort to host the Alpine Skiing National Championships for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.<\/p>\n

Swell Wellness<\/b><\/p>\n

Quality of life is not only determined by how well people can play. It\u2019s also determined by wellness itself. In the health and wellness arenas, Valley organizations and individuals also received honors and acclaim.<\/p>\n

Gathering after a three-year pause during the height of COVID, the Idaho Hospital Association met last week to educate, encourage, and energize Idaho hospital leadership with renewed purpose and focus. Part of that meeting was to recognize the outstanding contributions of key individuals during the most challenging time in modern healthcare memory. And St. Luke\u2019s reeled in a whole bunch. The honorees were:<\/p>\n

2021 Award of Excellence in Medicine: Laura McGeorge, M.D., St. Luke\u2019s Health System<\/p>\n

For the past 25 years, Laura McGeorge, M.D., FACP, has dedicated herself to advancing primary care and internal medicine at St. Luke\u2019s Health System. Recently retiring as the medical director for St. Luke\u2019s Primary Care service line, Dr. McGeorge\u2019s responsibilities included strategy, outcomes, quality, safety, patient experience and population health. Also a practicing internist in Boise, her leadership role over the past year expanded exponentially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, as she has led St. Luke\u2019s clinical response.<\/p>\n

2021 Award of Excellence in Patient Care: Sky Blue, M.D., Sawtooth Epidemiology and Infectious Disease<\/p>\n

Serving as one of Idaho\u2019s preeminent leaders in infectious diseases, Sky Blue, M.D., has had a busy schedule since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Blue has acted as one of the state\u2019s go-to experts on the novel coronavirus, treatments and vaccines. Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Blue has supported the State of Idaho\u2019s testing taskforce. He\u2019s been a regular contributor to the physician forum on the popular \u2018Idaho Matters\u2019 radio program.<\/p>\n

Dr. Blue has also provided guidance and expertise to numerous school boards and health departments. He even raised his hand to serve on the Central District Health Board when a position came open. Dr. Blue has embraced opportunities to share his deep and robust professional knowledge of infectious diseases.<\/p>\n

2022 Award of Excellence in Medicine: James \u2018Jim\u2019 Souza, M.D., St. Luke\u2019s Health System<\/p>\n

From managing patients in person or virtually in the intensive care unit or pulmonary clinic as a board-certified pulmonologist and critical care provider, to serving as chief physician executive for St. Luke\u2019s Health System, James \u2018Jim\u2019 Souza, M.D., has embodied excellence in everything he does. In his current role, Dr. Souza oversees and leads the health system\u2019s innovative delivery models of patient care; he has also treated patients with serious illnesses and continues to do so on a part-time basis. For decades, he\u2019s been driven to make life better \u2014 and healthier \u2014 for his fellow Idahoans. Throughout the pandemic years, he has been a champion for the frontline clinicians who provided evidence-based care and saved thousands of lives.<\/p>\n

Prior to joining St. Luke\u2019s, Dr. Souza spent time as the director of emergency services at the Boise VA Medical Center. Dr. Souza\u2019s career at St. Luke\u2019s has spanned two decades, starting as the medical director for respiratory care in 2000, before focusing on transforming and advancing care models in the intensive care units in 2004. He has served in a variety of leadership roles at St. Luke\u2019s, including as vice president of medical affairs, since 2012. Along with staff and partner physicians, he has worked to establish an effective physician\/provider organization across the health system with an eye toward succeeding in the emerging value-based healthcare environment and achieving the safety standards of a high-reliability organization.<\/p>\n

Dr. Souza is also the 2022 award winner of the Ada County Medical Society\u2019s Physician of the Year Award.<\/p>\n

2022 Award of Excellence in Patient Care: Dr. Terry O\u2019Connor, M.D., St. Luke\u2019s Health System<\/p>\n

Known for his leadership, patient-focused nature and passion for his community, Dr. Terry O\u2019Connor plays a critical role for St. Luke\u2019s Health System and in the Wood River area. He has served as both an emergency department physician at St. Luke\u2019s Wood River and Blaine County\u2019s Ambulance District as medical director. Dr. O\u2019Connor\u2019s exceptional leadership and acumen as a healthcare provider could have been reserved for his patients; instead, Dr. O\u2019Connor has sought opportunities to share his expertise so people across his community could benefit and thrive. This was apparent when Dr. O\u2019Connor went beyond the call of duty to be a leading voice in the medical community during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

As a medical leader in one of the first communities in Idaho to be hit hard by the then-novel coronavirus, Dr. O\u2019Connor stayed steady and consistent, providing the highest level of care for his patients and a strong leadership presence in his community. Both an outstanding physician and accomplished adventurer \u2014 he\u2019s summited Mount Everest.<\/p>\n

When Blaine County experienced one of the highest per-capita COVID-19 case rates in the nation in the pandemic\u2019s early days, Dr. O\u2019Connor sought solutions by contributing to a COVID-19 study on new variants and immune responses to the virus as a principal investigator \u2014 all with his patients and community in mind.<\/p>\n

2022 Award of Trustee of the Year: Skip Oppenheimer, St. Luke\u2019s Health System Board of Directors<\/p>\n

Advancing healthcare and working to ensure access to care for children, individuals and families in his home state led Skip Oppenheimer to join the St. Luke\u2019s Health System board of directors. Oppenheimer was appointed to the board in 2006, serving as St. Luke\u2019s first system board chair, helping lead the effort to formulate a comprehensive, integrated health system across southern Idaho.<\/p>\n

A devoted and visionary leader, Oppenheimer has played an instrumental role in St. Luke\u2019s strategy over the years, moving the health system forward in engaging communities, earning trust among health partners and evolving healthcare\u2014all with a focus on patient needs. Oppenheimer has worked closely with fellow board members to provide leadership in St. Luke\u2019s efforts to increase access to care in more rural areas. More recently, he has retired from the St. Luke\u2019s Health System Board of Directors and joined the board as chair for St. Luke\u2019s Health Plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Post-pandemic life, a tale of two cities By Eric Valentine ‘It\u2019s easy\u2014and legit\u2014to look around the Valley these days and wonder if this idyllic resort area\u2019s best days have come and gone. According to USAfacts.org, the population of Blaine County, Idaho, in 2021 was 24,766, 16.3% up from the 21,296 who lived there in 2010. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,3,79,15,18,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-community","category-covid-19","category-health-news","category-lifestyle-commentary","category-news","category-resort"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18823"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18832,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18823\/revisions\/18832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}