{"id":42910,"date":"2022-01-04T02:00:42","date_gmt":"2022-01-04T09:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-county-commissioner-hospitalized-with-covid-related-complications\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:10:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:10:19","slug":"montezuma-county-commissioner-hospitalized-with-covid-related-complications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-county-commissioner-hospitalized-with-covid-related-complications\/","title":{"rendered":"Montezuma County commissioner hospitalized with COVID-related complications"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Montezuma
Montezuma County Commissioner Joel \u201cJoe\u201d Stevenson is reportedly hospitalized with COVID-related complications. (Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Montezuma County Commissioner Joel \u201cJoe\u201d Stevenson has been hospitalized at Southwest Memorial Hospital with a COVID-related illness, according to multiple sources.<\/p>\n

He is in an intensive care unit at the hospital, his brother, Michael Stevenson, told The Journal<\/em> on Monday evening<\/p>\n

County Administrator Shak Powers said Monday the county and commissioners were informed that Stevenson had been hospitalized Friday from \u201ccomplications due to COVID. We are concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevenson was not present at the regularly scheduled meeting Dec. 28.<\/p>\n

Stevenson informed county officials in November that he had tested positive for COVID but did not have symptoms, according to administrator Powers. He self-isolated and later tested negative. Stevenson attended a commissioners meeting via Zoom while quarantined, Powers said.<\/p>\n

Stevenson, of Mancos, also works as a brand inspector for the Colorado Department of Agriculture. All state employees must either be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or participate in twice-weekly testing.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Jim Candelaria said he was made aware of Stevenson\u2019s hospitalization. He said he did not know his condition and was waiting for an update.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur thoughts and prayers are with him,\u201d Candelaria said.<\/p>\n

The three-member commission can function and vote on matters with at least two members. Candelaria said no major decisions are made by commissioners without all three members.<\/p>\n

\"Montezuma
Montezuma County Commissioner elect Joel Stevenson poses with U.S. House Rep.-elect Lauren Boebert during the campaign in November 2020.<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Stevenson\u2019s brother, Michael Stevenson, posted on his Facebook page Dec. 31 that Joel Stevenson was in the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrayers are needed for our family as Covid has attacked our family,\u201d wrote Michael Stevenson. \u201cMy brother Joe isn\u2019t doing well and is in the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview with The Journal<\/em> on Monday evening, Michael Stevenson said his brother felt he was catching a cold then had difficulty breathing on Dec. 26, and went to the hospital. He was diagnosed with viral pneumonia and sent home with oxygen and medications. A COVID test came back positive on Tuesday, and Friday morning he was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where he remains in intensive care.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is very sick, but his oxygen levels are improving,\u201d Michael Stevenson said. \u201cMy brother is tough and is holding his own.\u201d<\/p>\n

People who were in contact with Stevenson have been notified and are quarantining and being tested, he said. Stevenson\u2019s wife, Sheree, also tested positive for pneumonia and COVID and was recovering at home Monday.<\/p>\n

Michael Stevenson said he did not know whether the two had been vaccinated for COVID.<\/p>\n

Stevenson was under quarantine at the hospital Monday night, and visitors were not allowed. He has texted messages to family members.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sent him a text that I love him. He is a good man, a strong guy, I have faith he will recover,\u201d Stevenson\u2019s brother said.<\/p>\n

In a email Monday sent to members of the Four Corners 9-12 group, Dexter Gill posted a \u201cspecial alert for prayer\u201d for Stevenson, that stated \u201cthe commissioner has been hospitalized here with Covid.\u201d<\/p>\n

The email stated that Stevenson \u201chas been hit pretty hard by it and is being treated here with all tools available in hopes to not have to transfer him to a larger facility for heavier treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday, Stevenson responded with \u201csome small stabilizing reactions\u201d that were an improvement to a previous decline in oxygen levels, according to the email.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are encouraging all to lift him up in prayer, for continuing improvement and full recovery, without having to transfer him out for heavier treatments,\u201d the email message states.<\/p>\n

The Four Corners 9\/12 Project is a group of citizens that \u201chas come together to study and promote the Constitution of the United States,\u201d the group\u2019s Facebook page states.<\/p>\n

The Journal<\/em> reached out to Stevenson but had not received a reply by Monday evening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stevenson reported a positive test in November and recovered, according to county administrator<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[685,28,109,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-42910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-coronavirus-covid-19","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county-commissioner","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42910"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85498,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42910\/revisions\/85498"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42910"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=42910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}