Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Coast river business journal. (Astoria, OR) 2006-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 2021)
COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL BUSINESS NEWS AUgUST 2021 • 9 Business in Brief, continued Continued from Page 8 “Andi was a committed advocate for WTA’s enabling legislation in 2018, and she has played a critical role in re-estab- lishing a functioning statewide tourism marketing program in the last three years,” said Shiloh Burgess, WTA’s immediate past board chair and executive director of the Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Com- merce. “Andi’s marketing expertise, indus- try knowledge and commitment to the cause make her an ideal leader at this juncture of our development.” “My primary objective is to strengthen WTA’s impact to bolster the recovery for Washington’s $13 billion tourism industry while rebuilding and growing our share of the visitor market,” Day said. “For the first time in a decade, we have the funding in place to roll out a robust brand marketing campaign to attract out of state visitors to our beautiful state and support refinements in our tourism product, particularly in rural Ocean Beach Hospital has purchased new high-tech beds as an aid in patient care. areas.” Day leads the WTA’s executive commit- beds are designed with many advanced- possible, a major factor in preventing pul- tee. In addition to Burgess as immediate care features to enhance the level of patient monary and other complications asso- past chair, Ron Peck with the Port of Seattle safety, comfort and care during a hospital ciated with immobility. Benefits of the serves as vice chair, Skip Thompson with stay. The new beds were installed in South Progressa® model bed include an inte- Boeing as corporate representative, Julie Pacific County’s community-owned hospi- grated lift system to help caregivers move patients safely and efficiently, a specially Eisenhower with Clark Number as finance tal in late May 2021 and are now in use. “These smart beds are top-of-the- designed “mattress” surface to distrib- chair, and Meg Winchester with Visit Spo- kane as secretary. line,” Larry Cohen, OBHMC chief exec- ute a patient’s weight and alleviate pres- Day is an active member of the WSU utive officer, said in a press release. “The sure on any specific area, bed exit sensors Alumni Association and serves on the Mar- built-in capabilities from monitoring to the and alarms, vital-sign monitors, and other keting Advisory Board of WSU’s Car- fine-tuning of comfort adjustments will advances. son College of Business. She is also a allow us to offer a more positive patient Eleven of the new beds are Centralla® board member and past president of the experience.” Smart+ medical-surgical beds. These Washington State Destination Marketing All 12 were manufactured by Hill-Rom, beds help reduce and prevent falls, alle- Organization. a global medical technology leader, and viate pressure injury, continuously moni- An entrepreneur at heart, Day’s career were acquired by OBHMC to give patients tor heart and respiratory rates, and detect started in retail as an owner and operator an extra level of protection, safety and incontinence in real time. Thoughtful con- and then followed a marketing and pro- ease of use during a hospital stay. All pro- veniences include a USB port, storage for motion path. Her marketing experience vide 24/7 monitoring of two critical patient a personal device and more. The capac- ity for the medical team to remotely mon- includes tourism and events promotion in vital signs — respiratory and heart rate. The primary purpose of these beds is itor the patient’s status and be alerted to both the Greater Puget Sound area and in to protect against a worsening of patient changes is one of its key features. rural Pacific County. “For many patients, especially those A fourth-generation Washingtonian, Day health, which can affect about one in six spent nearly 20 years active in the Pacific hospital patients. If a patient’s deteriora- feeling vulnerable and scared, just know- Northwest rowing community as a coach tion goes unnoticed and is not promptly ing that their beds can warn nurses at the managed, it can lead to critical illness, the first sign of problems can help alleviate and coxswain. need for transfers to higher levels of care, their stress and anxiety,” Cohen said. cardiac arrest or other harmful events. The beds were funded by a $1.091 mil- lion bond placed through the Washington The new ICU bed will allow caregiv- Ocean Beach Hospital adds ers to improve upon the entire acute-care State Treasurer’s office. The bond will also 12 high-tech beds patient experience. For example, the bed fund two new radiology rooms, new oper- ILWACO — Ocean Beach Hospital & has a flexible frame and variable ways to ating room sterilizers, a portable X-ray Medical Clinics (OBHMC) has added a safely help a patient out of the bed with machine, and a bone-density machine and dozen new, high-tech medical/surgical and caregiver assistance. This facilitates get- ultrasound machine for use in the emer- intensive-care-unit (ICU) smart beds. The ting patients up on their feet as soon as gency department. James and Nina Whiddon won the grand prize at the business plan pitch competition. Local entrepreneurs compete in business plan competition CLATSOP COUNTY — Clatsop Com- munity College Small Business Devel- opment Center recently put on a start-up bootcamp for 10 aspiring Clatsop County entrepreneurs, ending in a rapid-fire busi- ness plan pitch competition. The competition winners, Nina and James Whiddon, were awarded the top prize of $1,000 from Wauna Credit Union. The credit union also provided financial support to the development center to pro- duce the program. The bootcamp included four educa- tional sessions and each entrepreneur part- nered with a professional business advisor to develop their business plans. Nina Whiddon, a technical writer and small business owner, and her husband, James Whiddon, a pastry chef of 25 years, will put their prize money toward start-up costs for a new donut shop. “Right now, the area only has one donut shop between Astoria and Seaside, and a lot of people love donuts,” James Whid- don said in a statement. “That’s something we can bring more of to the North Coast – we have a vision to provide hot, fresh, scratch-made donuts for locals, with early hours for commuters and convenient curb- side pick-up. We’ve learned a lot from the SBDC workshop, but most importantly it gave us more confidence to keep going with our dream.” Other bootcamp participants presented plans for new food products, retail busi- nesses, e-commerce applications, com- mercial real estate development and more. Each of them received a $200 grant toward their start-up costs from Clatsop Eco- nomic Development Resources and the Columbia-Pacific Economic Development District. The business plan review panel included Clatsop SBDC director Kevin Leahy, associate director Jessica Newhall, program development specialist Meyer Freeman and Sarah Lu Heath of Col-Pac.
