12
S moke S ignals
OCTOBER 15, 2014
Two new nurse practitioners join Tribal clinic
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
Nurse Practitioner Victoria
Wright, 59, joined the Tribal Health
& Wellness Clinic on Aug. 29 with
some 25 years of experience under
her stethoscope.
Amanda Mehlhoff, 36, also joined
the clinic at the end of September in
her first nurse practitioner position
since graduating with a master’s
degree in Nursing from Gonzaga
University in Spokane, Wash.
Wright and Mehlhoff fill half of
the four nurse practitioner staff
positions at the clinic.
They are ramping up on clinic
systems and procedures. When
ready, they are expecting to treat
14 to 18 patients daily.
Long term, the Tribal clinic en-
courages its different specialists to
work together, where appropriate,
on patient issues, such as inte-
grating treatment for medical and
mental health patients.
Long term for the nurse practi-
tioners, Wright said she would like
to focus on wellness.
“On more natural ways of pain
control,” she said. “We’re seeing
more deaths from overdoses of con-
trolled substances as well as more
addiction
and depen-
dencies. In
the U.S., 46
deaths a day
are attribut-
ed to these
overdoses.”
Wright
said her ef-
forts are
Victoria Wright
looking at
pain control through physical,
stretching and massage therapies,
and by building muscle mass. Of
course, the controlled medicine
forms of pain control still have
their place with injuries or fol-
lowing surgery. Holistic is for the
long run, she said. Better physical
health means a patient will not be
as susceptible to pain.
Mehlhoff comes to Grand Ronde
“to provide holistic primary care,
and help patients avoid unnec-
essary hospitalizations.” She has
been a nurse at Salem Health
since 2007, working initially in the
medical surgical unit and the last
four years in the intensive care
unit. She worked part-time while
attending Gonzaga to earn her
master’s degree.
Hospice seeking Native jewelry
The nonprofit Willamette Valley Hospice in Salem is planning a
used jewelry sale in the spring as a fundraiser and is seeking dona-
tions from talented Native jewelry makers.
Those who would like to donate can contact Hospice board member
Steve Bobb Sr. at 503-876-3118. n
“My most
satisfying
moments in
nursing have
been during
my clinical
rotations as
a nurse prac-
titioner,” Me-
hlhoff said.
“It feels real-
Amanda Mehlhoff
ly rewarding
to be able to help prevent com-
plications or conditions with pa-
tients. To help them cut down on
their smoking, to treat high blood
pressure or to help a scared kid, or
adult for that matter, through an
uncomfortable exam.
“It is so exciting to have patients
come back and say, ‘Did you see
my blood pressure?’ or ‘I’m down
to half a pack!’ These things seem
so simple in comparison with many
of the things I did as a nurse in the
ICU, but they can really make a
difference in the long run for pa-
tients and families. It feels good to
be a part of that, even though the
patients are doing the real work.”
Wright worked at Harborview
Hospital in Seattle in the inten-
sive care unit for more than four
years as a registered nurse and at
Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland,
Wash., in the Oncology Depart-
ment for about five years. She also
has worked in urgent care, family
practice and internal medical in
Washington state as a nurse prac-
titioner for three years.
Wright has a bachelor’s degree
in nursing from the University of
Washington and a master’s in nurs-
ing through Seattle Pacific Uni-
versity. She is currently working
on a doctorate in nursing from the
University of Central Florida and
a master’s in mental health coun-
seling through Stetson University.
Wright lives in Grand Ronde
while her husband, Robert, who
works as a critical care registered
nurse on an amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis transport in the greater
Tacoma-Seattle area, finds new
work in this area.
Wright was born and raised in Se-
attle. Her family includes five grown
children, all living in Washington
state, three stepchildren and 12
grandchildren. During her off hours,
she is an artist and jewelry maker.
Mehlhoff, who was raised in
McMinnville, lives in Willamina.
Her off hours are spent with her
husband, Ryan, her 2-year-old
daughter, Amelia, and their dogs. n
St. Michael’s offers weekly brunch
St. Michael’s Catholic Church offers an open house brunch every
Sunday following Mass. The brunch is free to the community.
Brunch begins at about 11:30 a.m. following the 10:30 a.m. Mass.
Mass attendance is not required for brunch attendance. For more
information, contact Janelle Justen at 503-550-0923. n
Damage forced the relocation of classrooms
VANDALS continued
from front page
The water, which was anywhere
from a half-inch to an inch deep,
was discovered later that evening
by the Tribe’s security officers.
“There is an ongoing investiga-
tion and any leads that come in
will be followed up by officers from
the department,” said Grand Ronde
Police Chief Al LaChance.
Thorsgard said the water damage
forced the relocation of five class-
rooms – the Mawich, Chak Chak,
Kwis Kwis, K-3 Immersion and
Lilu classes were forced to move to
temporary facilities. In addition,
the K-5 After School program also
was relocated.
Thorsgard said that classes were
canceled on Monday, Sept. 29, to
relocate classes and that it may
be three to four weeks before res-
toration work is complete and the
classes will be able to move back,
which also will likely result in at
least one educational day being lost.
“Overall, I would say the hardest
part was for the preschool kids to
adjust to a rapid relocation and
keeping them happy and focused on
school readiness,” Thorsgard said.
“I would like to thank everyone
who had a hand in helping us make
it through the day,” said Early
Childhood Education Program
Manager Vikki Bishop on Monday,
Photo courtesy of the Grand Ronde Tribal Police Department
Water can be seen on the floor of a classroom in the Tribe’s Early Childhood
Education building after it was intentionally flooded by vandals on Sunday,
Sept. 28.
Sept. 29, in a staffwide e-mail.
“Moving our classrooms, offices,
computers, to name just a portion
of the work. Tyson (Mercier) and his
staff worked all day doing whatever
was needed. And a special thanks to
the Housekeeping staff that came
in Sunday night and prevented
more damage from occurring.”
Servpro, which specializes in
water and fire damage restoration,
was hired to perform the cleanup.
The vandalism was addressed
by Tribal Council at the Tuesday,
Sept. 30, Legislative Action Com-
mittee meeting.
Tribal Council Vice Chair Jack
Giffen Jr. thanked staff members
for their quick response to the
emergency on Sunday night and for
creating a plan to move the classes
to other locations.
“I don’t know who did the dam-
age,” said Tribal Council member
Cheryle A. Kennedy, “but I just
think it is terrible. It’s just awful
that someone would … deliberately
flood their building and cause all
the damage and displacement of the
children; that is just a very horrible,
terrible thing to do. I just hope that
whoever did it would own up to
their responsibility and try to make
amends for what was done.”
Tribal Council Chairman Reyn
Leno said during the Oct. 7 Legis-
lative Action Committee hearing
that people need to understand
that when they vandalize Tribal
buildings, they are destroying their
own property.
“I think we need to step back and
make people understand in this
community this is all of our stuff,”
he said. “To tear up your Education
building, that’s like tearing up your
own house. That’s ridiculous. I think
we need to deliver that message. You
impact these little kids who are very
innocent and have nothing to do with
any of this stuff, and now you dis-
rupted a big piece of our education.”
Acting General Manager Chris
Leno called on the community to
help solve this crime against Tribal
members.
“This act of vandalism at our
school comes with a high dollar cost
to the Tribe and affects our young-
est children,” Chris Leno said.
“We want and need the help of the
community to solve this crime.” n