voice local community vernonia’s december 2007 13 Support your Local Merchants? It Makes More Sense Than You Think (continued) And knowing that you’re supporting your neighbors and friends with your purchase should make it even more rewarding to shop locally. So the next time you’re considering heading out of town to shop, especially when looking for holiday gifts this season, why not stop by one of our local Vernonia merchants and see what they have to offer. You might be pleasantly surprised. Item Place Price Item Place MSM Chantal Skin Cream 4 oz. Jason Cocoa Butter 4 oz. Cornerstone Naturals Fred Meyer $3.99 $6.99 Nylon Dog Leash (6’ x 1”) and Collar(18-26” x 1”) Bulk Garlic Granuals Cornerstone Naturals Fred Meyer $5.99/lb $7.99/lb. 5 Gallon Kerosene Vernonia Hardware Home depot $34.99 $35.99 Nylon Travel Case 17” x 9” x 10” up to 22 lbs. 19.5” x 10” x 11” up to 20 lbs 71/4” Circular Saw Mikita Vernonia Hardware Home Depot Watch Battery (installed) Price Creatures Pets PETCO $8.99 / $5.99 $12.99/ $8.49 Creatures Pets PETCO $25 .89 $39.99 Bike/Board Helmet Pryme $119.99 $129.00 Barlow Bikes & Boards GI Joe’s $21.00 $24.99 Bike Pump: Tru Value Fred Meyer $5.00 $9.00 Barlow Bikes and Boards GI Joe’s $31.00 $29.99 Hourly service rate: PC repair Tires 185/65/14 60,000 mi., mounted, balanced, valve stem 50, 000 mi $45/hr $130 flat rate Tru Value Les Schabb $78.00/ea $82.38/ea Bits and PC’s Comp USA Tigard Affordable Comp. Repair - Beaverton Interior Paint- Eggshell 25 year guaranty Behr -lifetime Ralph Lauren-lifetime Cell phone battery: Razor V3 Tru Value Home Depot Home Depot $22.99 $19.98 $24.98 Bits and PC’s Fred Meyer $24.68 $29.99 Memory card: 1 GB Micro SD Crucial 1 GB Micro SD ATP Bits and PC’s Fred Meyer $14.55 $29.99 Tru Value GI Joes $194.99 $249.00 Bushing Elite 3200 Scope Joe Blow Blackburn $40/hr New Nurse Practitioner Joins Providence Clinic Staff: A Conversation with Bob Guisti Robert Guisti is a Certified Nurse Practitioner who brings almost 30 years of health care experience to the Portland Providence Clinic in Vernonia. Bob is a former lab technician who did his undergrad study at the University of Portland and who graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1994 with a master’s degree in Senior Nursing with a specialty in Family Medicine. Bob’s wife Laura has a PhD in Health Care Policy, and his daughter Rebecca has a bachelor’s degree in Art History. I sat down recently with Bob at the Providence Clinic. The following are excerpts from our conversation. same-sex provider, so now we have that op- tion here for both men and women. I like to take care of everyone: men, women, children. That’s why I specialized in family medicine. I approach my patients from the nursing mod- el of care which is different from the medical model that an MD will take. The nursing model is about promoting health not treating disease. The nursing model is about avoiding disease through healthy practices. So I’ll help my pa- tients look at stopping smoking or how do we get your cholesterol down. That’s my focus.” “We came here from Billings, Montana. We had found that my wife’s career options were becom- ing somewhat limited, and I had been interested in working in a small community doing family medicine. When we visited Vernonia, we just loved the downtown; it was so quaint and beau- tiful. We were familiar with Forest Grove which gives Laura opportunities for an easy commute to a lot of areas. So we bought a home there, and here I am.” “There was already high quality health care of- fered here in Vernonia with Dr. Phyllis Gilmore. Some people are more comfortable with a “I’ve moved around a lot in my career, and what I’ve learned is that people have different expectations. And I have to figure out what they want. I’ve worked in Alaska, Washington State, the Deep South. And everywhere people are different. Some people want to talk about what’s going on with them health wise, explore their options, spend time figuring it out. Oth- ers just want to know what I can do for them. My job is to figure out what they want and then meet those patients’ different needs.” “Dr. Gilmore is the main reason I came here. This is the perfect job and situation for me. Be- fore I took the job, she and I sat down and had a real heart to heart discussion. We practice simi- lar styles of medicine, a commitment to quality medicine. I feel this is a good fit for me. I have a colleague that respects me as a non-physician provider and is willing to share ideas and listen to me.” “One of the big challenges to working in a ru- ral environment is the lack of emergency sup- port services. Due to geography and finances we have limited resources. We don’t have a lab here. We can’t push the envelope when it comes to making decisions about patients that present with chest pain or difficulty breathing. We have to make decisions quickly.” “This community should appreciate the EMS service you have. The ambulance service here is high quality. They arrive quickly and are very responsive to the needs of the community.” “We have a great staff here at the clinic. Every- one is very friendly and puts the patients’ needs first all the time. This is a great place to work.” Reach thousands of potential customers. advertise here! email us at: ads@vernoniasvoice.com call us at: 503.367.0098