02 Jun Highway 97
As one, we rise.
As one, we respond.
When you work in trauma care, you learn to manage hard days. But nothing prepares you for seeing the same stretch of road show up in chart after chart—each case another life changed forever.
“The outcome that we’re looking for is to make the highway safer.”
When you work in trauma care, you learn to manage hard days. But nothing prepares you for seeing the same stretch of road show up in chart after chart—each case another life changed forever.
For Sky Lakes Trauma Program Manager Stacey Holmes and Klamath County Fire District Chief Mike Cook, that stretch is known as “the Two-Thirties”—a section of Highway 97 between mile markers 228 and 242, that has quietly become one of Oregon’s deadliest.
They didn’t need data to know there was a problem. They had lived it, responding to wreck after wreck, seeing the same mile markers, the same outcomes, the same families broken apart.
“We’re going to give outstanding care. But if we can prevent someone from ever needing us in the first place, that’s the goal.”
Together, they decided it was time to do more than treat the aftermath. It was time to prevent the next crash.
They started compiling data, 911 call logs, trauma center records, EMS reports. They connected with Oregon DOT and hospitals across the state. And what they found was staggering: many of the deaths weren’t being counted in the same place. When they added it all up, the fatality rate on that stretch of road was 25–35% higher than previously reported.
That data helped push Highway 97 up the state’s priority list for safety improvements. But more than that, it reminded everyone involved why this work matters. Because these aren’t just numbers—they’re neighbors. Families. Friends. First responders and nurses who carry the weight home with them. And community members who still have to drive that road every day.
At Sky Lakes, that kind of care doesn’t end in the ER. It’s what drives people to make change before the next siren ever sounds.
“It’s important to know that our caregivers care and what we do on a daily basis impacts us also. And out of that is our heart to make a difference.”
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As one, we serve.
Sky Lakes began 60 years ago with a simple goal: serve the people of Klamath with care and compassion. Built by and for this community, the hospital grew not through outside investment, but through local commitment and shared purpose.
“The DNA of this community is woven into the fabric of Sky Lakes.”