Boise Idaho News

1. The Owyhee Plaza building has kept its aspect since the 1970s. The good news is that the new owners of the building are planning several changes, among them the name change to Owyhee Place. The building was raised about 100 years ago and the hotel inside it is going to be closed in April.

The exterior will be kept almost the same, while the interior is the one that is going to be improved and modernized significantly. If you visit the area and you have the curiosity to look close at the exterior of the building, you will see brick and sandstone covered in red color. Well, the owners want to eliminate the red and put back some of the windows that were sealed at some point in the past.

boise idaho newsSince the plans are not too radical concerning the exterior of the building, imagining the way the building will look like is not a difficult process. This is the plan with the exterior, while the biggest changes are going to be done to the interior of the building. There are going to be more parking spots and for this an entire building will be demolished.

Several apartments are going to be completely remodeled, and modern appliances are going to replace the old ones. A large staircase will be installed inside, in the area that houses the current lobby, so that access to the second floor will be much easier than it is right now, when the stairs are not at all visible.

The ballroom is going to become a more adaptable room, as several of the walls will be demolished to make more room and unleash the architects’ creativity.

The desire of the new owners is to make the place the favorite meeting place of people in Boise. To accomplish this, the roof is going to be remodeled and transformed into a lounge where people will have the pleasure to meet, have a drink and chat.

At present, there are numerous offices occupying several floors. The plan is to remodel and rearrange them too, as well as the main floor; then, say the architects, the Plaza Grill is going to have a modern ceiling and a wonderful design.

The restaurant inside the building, which was not used during the past years, is going to be remodeled and modernized so that it will attract the people in Boise.

2. Boise inhabitants are proudly celebrating Buster Bronco, the mascot of Boise Junior College, which started its activity back in 1932. It was then that the mascot was elected as the symbol of the college.

Students wanted a mascot that would help them remember the wild horses that once populated the region. They began to build a horse out of papier mache in 1936, and they called it Elmer.

The mascot was then burned after the homecoming games. The heir is Buster Bronco, a mascot that ranked third on a top made by Sports Illustrated Power Mascot Rankings.

3. The city of Boise has several landmarks and the arrow leaf balsam root is just one of them. The plant can be easily seen in the warm season around Boise. The seeds are nutritious and its root can go deep in the ground. For years, the mashed leaves of this plant were used for medical purposes, while the roots were eaten by the tribe members.

People buy the plant from the specialized stores and plant it in their gardens. Nevertheless, they have to wait a few years until the plant starts to bloom.

Louis Kraml, a CEO on a Mission

louis kraml

Louis Kraml

Louis Kraml, CEO of a hospital in South East Idaho, is revolutionizing medicine as we know it at Bingham Memorial Hospital. The hospital was dying back in 1998, but when Mr. Louis Kraml was chosen to be the administrator of BMH, he chose to make several big changes that (fortunately) had a big, positive impact.

The first decision of Louis Kraml was to purchase new equipment and technology for the hospital. It was a bold move, because the finances of the hospital weren’t in a good shape at all. Then, the entire hospital was renovated, taking into account the fact that both the patients and the doctors have to find the place likeable. The patients have to go through a lot of stress due to the fact that they might be suffering from a serious illness, so the hospital remodeling and renovation was carried out in such a way that it actually helped not only the patients, but also the doctors working there.

Louis Kraml’s next move was to hire the best doctors he could find; it was a bold move for a hospital that was having financial problems, but the outcome proved the fact that Mr. Kraml’s decision was appropriate. Another important change took place about five years ago, when the hospital led by Louis Kraml became a nonprofit organization. Bingham Memorial was also designated to be a critical access hospital, and being a nonprofit medical institution, BMH can be a patient-oriented hospital.

According to Louis Kraml, Bingham Memorial serves three counties: Bingham County, which has a population of about 46,000 people, Bannock County with a population of 84,000 people and Bonneville County, with a population of 106,000 people. This means that a large number of people (close to 250,000 men, women and children) are served by a medical institution that doesn’t have to send out the profit to a third party corporation or person, but reinvests all the profit into the hospital, offering better and better conditions for its patients.

Louis Kraml states that the reinvented profit allows the hospital to grow and improve constantly. As an example, the doctors working at Bingham Memorials are paid bigger salaries, without the patients having to support the increased costs from their own pockets. This means that the hospital can hire the best specialists in the country and thus is able to offer the patients the best medical services.

Today, BMH is the fifth largest employer in Bingham County, Idaho. The hospital serves over 100,000 patients each year and is the only one in the entire state of Idaho that has decided to make public the results of all the medical inspections, thus offering all its patients (and not only them) the possibility to check the quality of the medical services offered by BMH.

“We are building Idaho’s most trusted hospital”, says Louis Kraml. The doctors in the entire U.S.A. are invited to join the team, because they will get bigger salaries and they will have the chance to live in an American area with a low cost of living. In fact, Idaho was named the best placed to be a doctor for the second year in a row.

The explanation for this is simple, as lots of great outdoor activities like water rafting, gold, fishing, hunting, and so on, can be practiced in areas that are only tens of minutes away from Bingham Memorial.

Louis Kraml mentions that Idaho is also known for its public, private and charter schools, as well for the prestigious Idaho State University. The other members of the family will be supported as well, being helped to find jobs in the area.

Not only that, but at Bingham Memorial, the doctors, the nurses and the management team work together, and the patients can definitely see that. Thanks for being such a great example for all of us, Mr. Louis Kraml!

You can learn more about Mr. Kraml here: CEO Louis Kraml: Helping Bingham Memorial Hospital Thrive

Mental Health Issues Shouldn’t Be Ignored

If you broke your leg, the first thing you would do is see a doctor, get it treated and have it put in plaster to ensure it would heal. If you have depression, it’s highly likely that you’ll do nothing about it and hope that it just “goes away” on its own. Why is this the case?

prevent mental health problems

prevent mental health problems

Unfortunately there’s still a lot that’s not known about mental health problems. The one glaring fact is that many people don’t take it as serious as physical health problems when the truth is that mental health is as important, if not moreso, depending on the exact nature of the problem.

There’s a stigma attached to having “mental problems” such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, stress, ADHD, bipolar disorder and the myriad of 100 or more different mental disorders which are all very real. Yet millions of people refuse to seek treatment and that only makes their problems worse over time.

Physical problems can range from something as mild as a sprained wrist to something as severe as terminal cancer. Yet every physical problem is taken seriously and treated immediately. Nobody feels ashamed or embarrassed to ask for help. Yet people with mental disorders often DO have these feelings and therefore many simply don’t get treatment.

There’s no need to be ashamed or embarrassed about being sick, regardless of the problem. There are almost always methods of treatment and the sooner you ask for help, the quicker you can recover completely or, at the very least, you can better manage your health so you can lead a better life and cope with your ailments.

The most common phrase people with mental disorders get told is to “snap out of it.” That’s insulting and condescending. If you had a broken leg or cancer, nobody would tell you to “snap out of it.” Instead, you would get the appropriate treatment for your problem.

It’s sad to say but many people who have mental problems commit suicide because they either can’t get the help they need or don’t feel they have the courage to ask for support from family and friends because of this massive stigma.

Many mental disorders are invisible so you may not know if the work colleague sitting in the next cubicle has acute depression and suicidal ideations until you hear that he jumped off the roof because he couldn’t take it anymore. If that sounds scary to you, imagine what it must feel like for your work colleague, surrounded by people all day long, yet totally alone and isolated.

There are phone support lines, online chat rooms and groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous where you can go to get support if you don’t have anybody else to turn to. If you know somebody with a problem, offer to go with them to a group or sit down and let them talk to you about their problems.

Mental health issues should not be ignored. EVERYONE is entitled to seek treatment for medical problems, regardless of their nature. If you need help, ask for it. If you know somebody who needs help, offer your help and support. Don’t let the next person to jump off a building be somebody you know.