The Navajo Nation Department of Emergency Management issued a severe weather warning on Monday through the Navajo Nation’s text message alert, regarding anticipated heavy rainfall that is expected to begin on Wednesday.

“Our administration continues to offer support to several communities that are still recovering from monsoon rainfall in July," Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said.  "The Navajo Division of Transportation’s work crews also continue to work on repairs to roads that were washed out in July.

"The weather forecast shows heavy rainfall this week beginning on Wednesday morning in the western portion of the Navajo Nation and moving east throughout the day," Nez continued.  "Please be prepared, make sure your family and elders have essential items such as food, water, and fire wood.

"Flash flooding can carry away people and vehicles if people enter flooded areas, so please be very cautious and do not enter flooded areas on foot or by vehicle. As we move forward into the fall and winter seasons, we need our people to be prepared for more severe weather,” Nez concluded.

If chapters need assistance with response efforts, please send an email to the Navajo Nation Division of Community Development at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Community Health Representatives, under the Navajo Department of Health, are also providing support and assistance for elderly residents and those with health conditions. The Navajo Division of Transportation will work as quickly as possible to clear roadways and repair roads in the event of more road washouts this week.

“September is National Preparedness Month, as we turn our attention to the expected rainfall this week we must be ‘Navajo Ready,’ by setting aside time to create or review your own emergency preparedness plan and to consider registering as a disaster response volunteer," Vice Present Myron Lizer said.  "Don’t let the unpleasant thought of an emergency deter you from making a plan to protect your family and yourself, and to serve others in need.

Being prepared may not prevent a disaster, but it will give you confidence to meet the challenge. We have to work together and provide as much support as possible,”  Lizer concluded.

The Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President, Navajo Division of Transportation, and Navajo Nation Department of Emergency Management will continue coordinating with county officials, chapter officials, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and state emergency officials to provide additional resources and updates.

On Sept. 1 thunderstorms will move from west to east early in the morning through the afternoon. A flash flood watch (meaning ingredients are coming together) is in effect from 3 am on Sept. 1  through 6 am on Sept 2.  Some of the heaviest thunderstorms can produce rainfall rates between one and two inches per hour.  Lingering showers and thunderstorms will be possible after the heaviest rain passes.

MCKINLEY COUNTY – New Mexico State Police investigated a fatal crash on New Mexico State Road 371, around milepost 8, north of Thoreau March 6, shortly after 8 am.

According to the initial investigation, a 2012 Mitsubishi Lancer driven by a 28-year-old Albuquerque mother, was traveling south on SR 371. The Mitsubishi drove across the center line into opposing northbound traffic where it clipped a 2013 Nissan Altima’s mirror and then collided almost head-on with a 2005 Toyota 4runner.

The Mitsubishi then spun into an unoccupied McKinley County Sheriff’s patrol unit that was parked on the right shoulder of the southbound lane. The deputy was investigating a previous crash, at the time.

The mother who was driving the Mitsubishi, had an unrestrained 5-month-old baby in the vehicle.

Osiris Castillo suffered fatal injuries in the crash. Baby Castillo was pronounced dead at the scene by the Office of the Medical Investigator. The mother was airlifted with serious injuries.

The driver of the Toyota 4Runner, a 54-year-old Albuquerque man, was transported by ground ambulance with injuries not believed to be life-threatening. The driver of the Nissan was uninjured. No officers or deputies were hurt.

Speed and driver inattention are believed to have led to the crash. Alcohol does not appear to be involved, and seat belts were worn by everyone except the baby, who was not properly restrained.

This case is still under investigation with the assistance of the New Mexico State Police Crash Reconstruction Unit. Based on the outcome of the investigation, felony charges may be pending for the driver in the Mitsubishi. No additional information is available at this time.

Stagecoach Elementary School (1498 Freedom Dr.) went into a lockdown on the morning of Aug. 23 when Gallup Police responded to a call about shots fired in the area of Sagebrush Place Apartments (650 Dani Drive).

Officers made contact with the caller around 9 am.

The caller explained that he discovered an unknown male inside his vehicle at the apartment complex and when he confronted him, the person inside his vehicle pulled out a firearm. Startled by the response, he left the area, but said he heard two gunshots.

Officers set up a perimeter to search for the suspect and the school was placed on lockdown during the pursuit.

Officers of the Gallup Police Department located the suspect and took him into custody. He was identified as Jerome Tyson Stewart, 32, of Fort  Defiance, Ariz. and formally booked into the McKinley County Adult Detention Center for  1) Burglary of a vehicle, 2) Aggravated Assault (use of a deadly weapon), 3) Possession of a controlled substance (possession of methamphetamine), 4) Tampering with evidence (third or fourth degree felony) and 5) Negligent use of a deadly weapon (discharging a firearm near an inhabited building).

The school lockdown was lifted.

No injuries were reported.

The incident remains under investigation.

Doctors at Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital submitted signed union authorization cards to the National Labor Relations Board as a step toward forming a union in partnership with the Union of American Physicians and Dentists. The announcement came on Aug. 10.

The UAPD is an affiliate of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees International.

Dr. Stuart Bussey, the president of UAPD for almost 15 years, said a group of about 25 RMCH doctors has been talking to UAPD.com via Zoom over the past month.

The physician organizing committee at RMCH issued a public statement which was reproduced by the UAPD in its Aug. 10 press release.

“We have decided to unionize for one reason: to protect and improve the lives of our patients, without fear of reprisal for speaking up on their behalf.”

The challenges at RMCH are similar to those of many corporate health care workplaces, Bussey said. He described it as a transition from doctors in private practice working for themselves, to doctors as employees of big corporations, without control over the care they provide.

Dr. Mary Poel, a pediatrician at the College Clinic, 2111 College Drive, who is acting as the spokesperson for the core group of RMCH physicians seeking to form a union, expressed concern over changes which occurred since Community Hospital Corporation of Plano, Tex. began managing RMCH.

“The powers that be should be meeting with the physicians with the different specialties instead of making arbitrary decisions that affect us,” she said. “We have no way to have any input into those things.”

Poel said doctors should have more of a say in how clinical decisions are reached. She said they are sometimes made based on financial considerations.

“We see it as our responsibility to make it safe in the hospital for patients,” she said.

Poel mentioned the importance of being treated by qualified physicians and having enough doctors to cover the community.

While many of these issues have been under discussion, the impetus to form a union reached a critical point when the doctor representing the medical staff on the board was fired. He took his seat as the only doctor on the board in January and lasted in that position until July. Poel said the doctor was dismissed as a result of disagreements with the administration about patient care.

“That was the stimulus that we as a medical staff needed to do something,” Poel said.

Medical assistants were also let go. Poel said that move left her clinic so short-handed that the staff can barely keep up.

Another issue the group wants to review is the upkeep of hospital equipment and supplies.

On one floor the intensive care unit at RMCH relies on a system of bells in order to keep the nurse’s station informed.

Bussey said the standard of care in a hospital is a call system which turns a light on in the nurse’s station. The bells, he said, can’t be heard above the noise in the ICU.

The bells are a form of cost-cutting, he said.

One of the doctors went online looking for a call system that wasn’t very expensive, Poel said. Asked if it isn’t the hospital’s responsibility to cover such costs, she said that sometimes doctors have been known to contribute their own money.

At this time she is not aware of any plan to purchase a new call system.

WHAT CHANGES WOULD YOU MAKE?

If the union is approved, Poel has a list of issues she would like to see addressed. The first thing she wants to know is where the money goes.

“The doctor’s group as a whole would really like to see the financials of the hospital,” she told the Sun. “Where is the money being spent?”

Doctors want to be part of prioritizing how funds are disbursed, she explained. They want to focus on patient safety, services, and having enough doctors available to provide great care for the outpatient clinics and the hospital.

Furthermore, the doctor who was terminated should come back, unless the administration can give reasons for the firing. Poel doesn’t believe it had anything to do with clinical care or interactions with peers or patients.

One topic that was not part of the discussion was salaries. Both Poel and Rachel Flores, organizing director of UAPD, emphasized that the Zoom discussions about the desire to form a union centered around patient care.

Poel said the reason she was chosen to become the spokesperson for the core group seeking to form a union, was because there is a fear of reprisals by the administration.

“A lot of the younger doctors that are part of this … they don’t want to lose their jobs,” Poel said.

CHC has been asked to recognize the new union. Calls to the management company from the Gallup Sun Aug. 11 and 12 received no response.

The Sun also contacted RMCH Executive Director Ina Burmeister for comment, and was informed that something would be forthcoming. However, no response was received by press time.

By Beth Blakeman
Managing Editor