July 18, 2020

Steve Hurst, Managing Director

The Resort at Paws Up HEALTH OFFICER ORDER
40060 Paws Up Road TO SUPPLY REQUIRED
Greenough, MT 59823 INFORMATION

Dear Mr. Hurst:

As we discussed yesterday on the phone, and as clarified by Kara Hanson by email, The
Resort at Paws Up is required by Montana state law to provide the Missoula City-County
Health Department the necessary information we need to complete case investigations on
three COVID-19 cases.

We asked that you supply the information by 10 AM on Saturday, July 18, 2020, but have
not yet heard from you. It is of paramount importance that close contacts are identified,
contacted and quarantined quickly to prevent further spread of the disease. Close contact
tracing and quarantining is one of the few and most effective tools available to stop
exponential growth of COVID-19.

Montana law requires local health departments to investigate and control communicable
diseases (§50-2-118, MCA). The Health Officer is required to pursue judicial action to
enforce these orders (§50-2-118, §50-2-123, MCA). Additionally, obstructing a local health
officer in performance of her duties is unlawful. (§50-2-122, MCA).

You are ordered to provide the following information as soon as possible, but no
later than 10 AM on Monday, July 20, 2020. Failure to do so will result in the Missoula
City-County Health Department initiating legal action to acquire the information.

1. A list of shifts of the three workers we previously identified to you by email. Using on
their first initials, the dates of concern are:
REDACTED
2. A list of employees, with contact information, those three may have come into close
contact with during those shifts
3. A list of guests, with contact information, that any of the three employees would have
come into close contact with.

A close contact is defined as someone who a positive case was within 6 feet of, regardless
of whether one or both parties were wearing face coverings, for 15 minutes or more. The

1
time is cumulative, meaning shorter periods adding up to 15 or more minutes also makes
someone a close contact.

Every day that we are unable to identify and quarantine close contacts puts more people at
risk for the disease. Your immediate attention to this critical task is essential.

Sincerely,

Cindy Farr, R.N.

Acting Health Officer
COVID-19 Incident Commander

cc Kirby Christian, Attorney

Kara Hanson, Nurse Family Partnership Supervisor and ID Branch Director
Sara Heineman, Health Services Director and Operations Chief
Anna Conley, Deputy Civil County Attorney