NEWPORT – Lincoln County Commissioner Claire Hall is recuperating at Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital after falling and breaking her right hip and shoulder in her office Monday.
Hall said she had surgery to place a plate and two screws in her hip but that orthopedists recommended against surgery – for now – on a break in her shoulder. Hall joked that luckily she is left-handed.
The accident occurred in her courthouse office when she tripped on an electrical cord, she said.
“I went down really hard on my right should and hip,” she told the Lincoln Chronicle on Saturday.
Hall said she is unsure when she might be released from the hospital, but might undergo rehabilitation there. “I feel like I’m getting really good care and support,” she said.
Hall said Walter Chuck, who was appointed to the commission in February after serving for years on the Port of Newport commission, will serve as chair for the commission’s next meeting Sept. 17. Hall said she intends to attend remotely – just like commissioners and staff did during the Covid pandemic.
“I really feel like I can do most everything for a while with my phone and laptop,” Hall said.
It’s been a year of turmoil for Hall and county commissioners. Hall has served as a commissioner since 2004 and is in her sixth term in office. But she is the subject of an active signature campaign to hold a recall election. Opponents have until Nov. 2 to collect 3,940 valid voter signatures to force an election.
