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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 2017)
Wallowa County Chieftain wallowa.com Local news March 8, 2017 A5 Enterprise hospital source of pride Open House is March 9 By Stacy Green For the Chieftain It’s been 10 years since an ambitious and challenging goal was achieved in Wallowa County. The outcome was a new Enterprise hospital, at a cost of $23 million.. Years in the making, Wallowa County residents showed dedication and commitment. “We had the community behind us, and that made all the difference,” said hospital CEO Larry Davy. When Davy was hired as interim CEO in 2001, the hospital had seven days of operating cash and was over $2 million in debt. Davy met with the staff and laid out the challenges ahead. The effort to turn the hospital around culminated six years later. “We were lucky to have some very committed peo- ple who were very dedicated ECONOMY Continued from Page A1 What Evans suggests for practical living wage jobs for the area are things such as call centers and technical writing. “Things like that are pretty easy to do. I know a guy in En- terprise who does digital ren- dering for the movie industry. It doesn’t matter where you are to do that kind of work,” he said. A good start to attracting those kinds of jobs to the coun- ty would be for the county to focus on those types of busi- nesses and how the area can market itself to digital or online industries, says Evans. He also suggests sporting and outdoor goods because the area attracts outdoor enthusiasts “Knife makers such as Benchmade or Buck – some- thing small and in touch with the outdoors. The hunting and fi shing industry may resonate well, especially if they want a Chieftain Archives A scene from the construction phase of the Wallowa Memorial Hospital Courtesy photo to the hospital,” said Davy. “The hospital board, chaired at the time by Ed Jensen, made a very courageous de- cision to go forward with the plans to build a new hospi- tal.” Former president of Com- munity Bank Bruce Penoske was also part of the initial decision, supported by then- board members Bob Evans, Marsha Svendsen, and Kate Loftus. By the time the new hospital opened, Bob Wil- liams had replaced Penoske; Bob Evans has since passed away. Today, Loftus, Svend- sen and Williams remain on the board, joined by chair Nick Lunde, and board mem- ber Sue Coleman. The Wallowa Valley Health Care Foundation led high quality of life for their em- ployees,” he said. In the meantime, Evans isn’t sure where the responsibility for procuring employers lies. “Is it the city’s job, the coun- ty chamber of commerce’s job, the city chamber of commerce’s job? I think that’s what we fi rst need to look at,” he said. bachelor’s degree in religious studies and also studied Viet- namese culture. After some traveling, in- cluding working for Monks Without Borders, Kinzie ob- tained work at a transportation data collection fi rm in Portland, After what Kinzie called “a quarter-life crisis at 25,” he moved to the Wallowa Valley to start life anew. He started out working making beds and mowing lawns for one of the cabin rental businesses and eventually got carpal tunnel, which severely curtailed his pi- ano playing for a time. He then took a job at the Lostine Tav- ern washing dishes because he needed the money. Kinzie works part times as a musician who also gives les- sons and writes songs. He also is a web designer for the local company Develop Easy. “It’s a good outlet to focus on the arts and there’s an ele- ment of creativity. I now have 100 percent employment as a 29 year-old. May it never end,” he said with a laugh. Kinzie doesn’t necessarily think there’s a shortage of work in the county, if you’re willing to make a few sacrifi ces. “Maybe if you’re looking for a solid 9-5 job with ben- efi ts, those are hard to come by. If you want to live out here and you’re dedicated to it, you can make it work. If you mix and match with a few different things you’ll fi nd it’s possible,” he said. More people are moving to Wallowa County according to Kinzie. He cited young people in particular, who have creative ideas about what they want to do but need to consider the lo- cal populace. “I don’t think they should live their dream out here with- out consulting the community. They need to realize there’s an established community of peo- Musician, web designer Seth Kinzie is a Joseph resident who makes his living as a musician and as a custom website designer. Born in Se- attle, Kinzie spent much of his youth moving from place to place as his mother worked as a preacher for the Church of the Brethren. His father was a mu- sician and the family eventually settled in Los Angeles. Kinzie never forgot the Northwest, and as soon as he graduated high school he moved back to Portland, where he attended Lewis and Clark College. He graduated with a the effort to solicit donations from the community. “The community contrib- uted a signifi cant amount of the money needed,” Davy said. “We appreciate the ef- forts of both the Foundation and the Auxiliary, who also helped.” The hospital is celebrat- ing the occasion on Thursday, March 9 with an Open House from 2 to 4 pm at the hospital. Hospital staff will give visi- tors short tours, share progress in equipment, technology, ser- vices, facilities and staffi ng, and answer questions. “The community’s ongo- ing support has been critical to our progress,” said Davy. “We hope everyone will share this milestone with us, and join us as we celebrate.” ple here, some who are similar and some very different. They don’t need to necessarily get their permission, but get their support before embarking on creative pursuits. This is a small town and we need to maintain the harmony here,” he said. Kinzie said he’d like to see green energy jobs such as man- ufacturing solar panels come to the county, or businesses such as the small ceramics/brew- ery furniture factory Wallowa County native Tyler Hays plans to establish, using as many lo- cal resources as possible. Improving the local econo- my with full-time work would be a good thing for the county if forethought is put into it, ac- cording to Kinzie. “I don’t think anyone wants a big factory out here. You have to be smart about keeping what we have out here – that the open space we like stays open – but we need jobs out here,” he said. W AL L OW A COUN TY Alcoholics Anonymous Meetings E N TE R P R ISE MONDAYS TUESDAYS 7 p.m. Enterprise Group 113.5 E Main St. 6 p.m. Grace and Dignity (Womans Mtg) Joseph United Methodist Church St., Corner Church 3rd 301 S. Lake St, Basement & Lake, Side Stairs on Lake St. NEW SPRING ARRIVALS FROM TUESDAYS 12-1 p.m. Enterprise Group 113.5 E Main St. RIEKER 7-8 p.m. Enterprise Group (Big Bk Study) 113.5 E Main St. The Antistress Shoe Comfort and style all in one shoe WEDNESDAYS 7 p.m. Enterprise Group 113.5 E Main St. THURSDAYS Stop by today! Open 10am - 5pm daily 12-1 p.m. Enterprise Group 113.5 E Main St. 7 p.m. All Saints (Mens Mtg) 113.5 E Main St. FRIDAYS 7 p.m. Enterprise Group 113.5 E Main St. SATURDAYS Uptown Clothing & Accessories in Downtown Joseph 12 S. Main St. • 541-432-9653 JOSE P H 7 p.m. Enterprise Group 113.5 E Main St. WEDNESDAYS Grace and Roses Dignity 12 p.m. Rambling (Womans Mtg) 301 S. Lake St., Church Basement W AL L OW A SUNDAYS 7 p.m. Wallowa Assembly of God Church 205 S Alder St.
