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Valley Times
$1 SERVING BLYTHE,CALIFORNIA WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2018

Flu makes deadly impact in Calif.

State recording largest number of influenza deaths in decades
BY CATHYLEEN RICE does not record flu As reported by the having another wave of
TIMES REPORTER deaths among people CDC, the virus has hit H3N2 this year.”
Across the state of over the age of 65, so every state in the United The Palo Verde Hospi-
far the death toll of has States, except Hawaii. tal (PVH) has also expe-
California, this year’s
spiked to 97, includ- Jernigan noted the rienced an influx of flu
flu season has been one ing at least 37 children. rate of hospitaliza- patients since the begin-
of the deadliest in de- And, according to Dr. tions due to the flu in ning of the year.
cades, according to the Dan Jernigan, the di- California has been Megan Allen, Infec-
Centers for Disease Con- rector of the influenza around four times high- tion Preventionist
trol and Prevention. division of the CDC’s er than it was during and Employee Health
Beginning since the National Center for Im- 2014-15. Nurse at PVH, said the
New Year, a large num- munization and Respi- He shared, “Vaccines hospital has had, “71
ber of people have been ratory Diseases, “Flu just don’t do that well confirmed Influenza A PHOTOSPIN.COM
showing up in hospitals activity is likely to con- against H3N2, so the im- cases & 20 confirmed CALIFORNIA HAS SEEN A RISE  in flu related deaths this
since the outbreak of tinue for several more munity that was gath- Influenza B cases; this season. Although the state does  not record flu deaths among
H3N2. weeks, [with even] more ered last year may not number includes outpa- people over the age of 65, so far the death toll of has spiked to
Although the state deaths likely to occur.” be enough to prevent SEE FLU/A7 97, including at least 37 children.

Wellness express
to celebrate six
months of service
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
Six months ago, July
1, 2017, in the heat
of summer, the Palo
Verde Valley Transit
Agency began a pilot
project — The Blythe
Wellness Express
(BWE) — designed to older residents and
meet needs of Blythe those with disabilities
residents for transpor- or medical conditions,”
tation to doctors and says Palo Verde Valley
medical services in the Transit Agency Gener-
Coachella Valley.  al Manager George Col-
So far, 119 people angeli. “We know that
have registered for the we are making a differ-
Blythe Wellness Ex- ence in people’s lives.”
press. Some have only Many of BWE’s rid-
needed to make a single ers agree. When in-
trip to the Coachella terviewed about their
Valley, while others are experience using the
traveling regularly for service, they use terms
doctor visits, medical like “life saver,” “ab-

Strolling burros
tests and other services.
The BWE is funded by
the Federal Transit Ad-
ministration (FTA) in
order to improve health
outcomes for Blythe
residents. Project con-
sultant Valerie Mackin-
tosh is responsible for
tracking the project’s
results and reporting to
ABOVE: Meet the FTA. She says that
Ginger, the riders are using the
princess burro BWE to access a diver-
of California’s sity of medical services
deserts. including dialysis, den-
RIGHT: Out tists, specialists (such
for a beautiful as cardiologists, gastro-
Sunday stroll enterologists, pulmon-
on the back ologists and many oth-
roads of ers) and services such
California, a as MRIs and mammo-
group of wild, grams.
yet friendly According to an anal-
ysis of registrations,
burros greeted
Mackintosh says that
the Executive
most of the BWE users
Director
are older adults. Two-
of the PVC
thirds of registrants are
Foundation, over 50 years old, while
Gene Hill on 22 percent are over 70.
his way to view When surveyed about
the Parker how they would have
Dam. gotten to their medical
appointment without
PHOTOS the BWE, 57 percent of
COURTESY OF all riders said they
GENE HILL wouldn’t have made the
trip or didn’t know how
they would have made
it.
“This service is truly
a lifeline for Blythe’s
solutely wonderful,”
and they note that their
health is improving be-
cause they are able to
make regular doctor
visits.
To use the BWE, rid-
ers must register and
make a reservation by
calling 760.922.1140. To
make it easy for new
riders to try the service,
BWE offers new regis-
trants their first-round
trip for free. After the
first trip, the fare is
only $15 for a roundtrip
or $10 for a one-way trip.
Mr. Colangeli notes
that this is less the cost
of gas for the 265-mile
roundtrip.
The BWE currently
operates Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fri-
days by reservation.
The vehicle leaves
Blythe at 6:30 a.m. and
returns by 4 p.m. Pas-
sengers can travel to
virtually any medical
office or facility within
the Coachella Valley
including JFK Medical
Center in Indio, Eisen-
hower Medical Center
in Rancho Mirage, Des-
ert Regional Medical
Center in Palm Springs
and the VA Clinic in
Palm Desert. BWE also
connects with SunLine
SEE EXPRESS/A7