FEATURE STORY
COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL
MARCH 2022 • 5
OUR PROVIDERS
ARE READY TO MEET YOUR
MEDICAL NEEDS!
LYDIA ELY/THE ASTORIAN
Steerman points at the program she uses to track ships passing through the area.
Continued from Page 4
and approaching the bar with spreadsheets of sched-
ules. Three radios sit nearby, tuned to channels 9,
13 and 16.
Steerman said the bar pilots provided a good sup-
port network as she learned the skills and conû dence
needed to react quickly during emergencies on one
of the most dangerous stretches of water in the world.
“Something kicks in and you can just be calm and
just go right with ‘OK , this is what I need to do,’”
she said.
Steerman studied maritime archaeology and pre-
viously worked for the Merchants Exchange in Port-
land. She jumped at the chance to apply to the b ar
p ilots when a position opened.
She works for two weeks at a time, rotating the
month with another dispatcher. When she’s in Asto-
ria, she lives in a cabin connected with the Columbia
River Quarantine Station.
Most of Steerman’s friends and family live in
Portland, where she lives during the other half of the
month.
During the pandemic, Steerman started a synth
pop-punk band, the Golden Skeletons, with some
friends in Portland. She sings, plays the guitar and
the keyboard. She hopes to do a show at some point
in Astoria , a city that is starting to feel more like
home.
“It’s mostly pretty cool actually, to be able to kind
of live in both worlds,” she said. “But the more that
I do that, the more I realize I want to be here full
time. This area calls to me, and there’s a lot of pros
to being here.”
Steerman said she has had no issues so far as a
woman in a male-dominated industry, aside from
sometimes being addressed as “sir” accidentally.
“When I reach out to (ships), sometimes I’ll get
a woman captain. And so it’s two females talking
to each other, which is pretty rare,” she said. “And
there’s always, for a moment, this recognition of,
‘Oh, hey, cool.’”
Steerman is slowly moving more decorations
into the dispatcher9s oû ce. For now, her only contri-
bution to a shelf lined with baseball hats and knick-
knacks is a button that, when pressed, oû ers advice
like a Magic 8-B all.
She plans on sticking around for a while.
“Oh, they’re gonna have to wheel me out when
I’m old and decrepit,” she said, laughing . “I love it
here. They’re really good to me. I love the area. I
love the industry. Deû nitely retirement.=
Dr. Fabiano
Internal Medicine
Brianna Ayers, FNP
Family Medicine
Steve Bellinger, PA-C
Family Practice
Kyle Shafer, PA-C
Family Medicine
Stephanie Robinson, CRNA
Family Practice
Ted Gavel
CRNA
Dr. Weaver
General Surgery
“To provide
compassionate
patient focused
care for our
community”
Dr. James Bruce
Emergency Director
Ocean Beach Hospital 360-642-3181
Ocean Beach Medical Clinic 360-642-3747
Naselle Clinic 360-484-7161
Ocean Park Clinic 360-642-6387
www.oceanbeachhospital.com
Nikki Hartley-Jonason
ARNP, Family Practice
Lori Sharrow, NP-C
Family Practice
Dr. Laurie Belknap
Family Practice