SANDPOINT — Bonner General Health Board President Ford Elsaesser is calling on commissioners to support the community’s healthcare providers following a controversial letter by Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler calling for an immediate end to the state’s stay-at-home order.

County officials say that just may happen.

A resolution clearly stating the county supports and stands behind healthcare providers “who are working extraordinarily hard to be prepared for any increase in infections” would send a powerful message to both healthcare providers and the medical community, Elsaesser said.

“Your support for our doctors, nurses, therapists, aides, techs and numerous other healthcare workers who are doing everything humanly possible to keep Bonner County safe during this crisis would be very meaningful,” he wrote in a letter to county and state officials. “I know that the healthcare community would greatly appreciate your support.”

Bonner County Commission Chairman Dan McDonald told The Daily Bee that county officials will likely write a letter of support for the community’s healthcare workers. However, drafting the document could take time because the office is working with partial staffing and the need to follow Open Meeting Law requirements.

“We will be putting together a letter of support for our healthcare workers who are on the front line of this battle with the COVID-19 virus,” McDonald wrote in an email to The Daily Bee. “We support and appreciate their hard work and dedication.”

Elsaesser is the hospital board’s president and, as such, represents both himself and Bonner General Health, hospital spokesman Erin Binnall said.

Elsaesser, a longtime Bonner County attorney, made the request following an open letter that Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler posted to the sheriff’s office’s Facebook page on April 2 that called on Gov. Brad little to lift the state’s stay-at-home order. In his controversial letter, Wheeler questioned the reliability of information about the novel coronavirus being distributed by the World Health Organization and the “devastation” caused by public officials’ response. The letter also called for an emergency meeting among lawmakers to discuss the matter.

“I do not believe that suspending the Constitution was wise because COVID-19 is nothing like the plague. We were misled by some public health officials, and now it is time to restore our Constitution,” Wheeler said in the one-page letter.

The following day, Bonner County commissioners defended Wheeler’s First Amendment rights to free speech but said they would continue to operate at reduced staffing levels and operation as they followed the stay-at-home order.

“Our country was built upon differing views and opinions and we believe it’s always important to look at all options in situations that we find ourselves in. The Constitution is the supreme law of the land and should be the determining factor in any decision or statute created by any level of government,” commissioners Dan McDonald, Steve Bradshaw and Jeff Connolly said in the statement.

The board also noted that Wheeler’s letter did not have the force of law and was strictly his opinion, something which the governor had requested.

Elsaesser noted the negative publicity surrounding the letter, saying it could appear to encourage disrespect of the governor’s order.

“We believe that the Bonner County commissioners, Bonner County sheriff and our local government should be primarily concerned with the health and safety of our residents, a concern that really appears nowhere in the resolution supporting Sheriff Wheeler’s ‘free speech’ rights, which nobody disputes,” Elsaesser said in the letter. “However, encouraging the citizens of Bonner County to disregard the Governor’s order and congregate as they see fit, puts all of our healthcare workers on the front line at risk.”

Those frontline workers include not only the healthcare community but everyone from grocery store employees to UPS drivers, who all put themselves at risk during the course of their jobs, Elsaesser said.

While he noted the order’s constitutionality, he said his goal behind sending a letter was “a strong statement of support” for those serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, something he said seemed to be missing from the county’s response to Wheeler’s letter.

“I’m not trying to get into a debate with Heather Scott or Sheriff Wheeler. I respect both of them and I certainly respect their First Amendment rights to say anything they want to say but when you’re the chief law enforcement officer and you’re saying you don’t have to obey the law, that’s a message that’s not really encouraging to our healthcare providers who are going to have to deal with the consequences if people get together,” Elsaesser said.

Caroline Lobsinger can be reached by email at clobsinger@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @CarolDailyBee.