Health
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
A3
New family nurse practitioner: ‘education empowers’
Mendy Sharpe
and family moved
from Austin
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
For family nurse practi-
tioner Mendy Sharpe, educa-
tion is key to unlocking good
health.
Sharpe began working at
the Grant County Health De-
partment in John Day in De-
cember. She and her family
moved to Prairie City from
Austin, Texas, where she
grew up.
Sharpe was a critical care
nurse for most of her nursing
career, working while finish-
ing studies to become a family
nurse practitioner. She spent
five years in critical care,
working in urgent care and as
a home health nurse, but most
of her experience was in a
hospital setting.
“I’ve dealt with a lot of
younger people, but also older
people who had exacerbations
from chronic diseases,” she
said. “My goal is to prevent,
as much as possible.”
Catching health problems
early can help patients have
the best outcome possible.
“If they get that education,
it empowers them to make
better decisions regarding
their health,” she said.
Sharpe also tries to educate
herself, learning new things
Eagle file photo
The Grant County Health Department at 528 E. Main St.,
Ste. E, in John Day is open with new hours of 7 a.m. to
12 p.m. and 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. On
Fridays, the health department is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
with no providers available on that day.
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Family nurse practitioner Mendy Sharpe checks the ears of a patient at the Grant
County Health Department.
and keeping herself up to date
in her field, she said.
She enjoys working at the
health clinic and said there
are good resources avail-
able for such a small area.
She noted having the mental
health clinic, Community
Counseling Solutions, at-
tached to the health depart-
ment was rare.
“Here at the health depart-
ment, we have family plan-
ning services with access to
contraceptives,” she said, as
well as resources for those
who are pregnant, such as the
WIC program, or those who
would like to become preg-
nant.
She said they now take
laboratory work at the health
department, and their morning
and evening hours are geared
more toward urgent care.
When she’s not working,
Sharpe said she enjoys spend-
ing time with her family.
This includes her hus-
band, David, an Army veteran
who attends school full-time,
working on a bachelor’s de-
gree in informational technol-
ogy. His five-plus years in the
military included deployment
to Iraq.
She and David have two
children, son David, 11, and
daughter London, 6. Mendy
said they’ve enjoyed going
to the movies out of town and
taking vacations to visit other
states.
A draw to the area for the
Sharpes was having family
and friends nearby in Eu-
gene, northern California and
Washington — as well as the
weather.
“Now that the weather is
starting to warm up, we want
to start doing outdoor activ-
ities and find places to hike
and go camping,” she said.
Sharpe said she is enjoying
the close-knit community.
“Everybody is really
friendly, and you don’t always
get that in a bigger city,” she
said.
The health department,
located at 528 E. Main St.,
Ste. E, is open 7 a.m. to 12
p.m. and 1-6 p.m. Mondays
through Thursdays. On Fri-
days, the health department is
open 8 to 5 p.m. with no pro-
viders available on that day.
For more information, call
541-575-0429.
340B program benefits people without prescription drug insurance
Eligible hospital
patients can
receive card
for discounts at
Len’s Drug
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
Blue Mountain Hospital
District patients without pre-
scription drug insurance may
see significant savings from a
new program in John Day.
Through the 340B drug
pricing program, patients
without prescription coverage
who are prescribed medica-
tions by doctors at the hospi-
tal or its clinic can receive a
340B card from the hospital
to use when filling prescrip-
tions at Len’s Drug for major
discounts.
“This is a government pro-
Eagle photos/Sean Hart
Len’s Drug Pharmacy Technician Rori Leighton, left,
and Pharmacy Manager Tilli Bjornberg work in the
John Day pharmacy Wednesday, April 12. Eligible Blue
Mountain Hospital patients without prescription drug
coverage can now obtain a 340B card from the hospital
to use for significant savings on most prescriptions at
Len’s Drug.
gram that gets small, rural
hospitals and clinics like ours
the ability to receive discounts
from the big pharmaceutical
companies,” hospital CEO
Derek Daly said. “Through
Prescription drugs may
be much more affordable
for people who do not
have prescription drug
coverage, thanks to the
new 340B program.
our partnership with Len’s
Drug, we are able to get the
discounts into the patients’
hands.”
Daly said patients should
ask the receptionist if they are
eligible for the program when
they visit the hospital. He said
hospital staff will probably
ask the patients if they are in-
terested but may not be aware
a patient does not have pre-
scription drug coverage.
Although people who al-
ready have drug coverage are
not eligible, Daly said the pro-
gram could help 5-10 percent
of the population.
“This has an impact to get
people pharmaceuticals that
otherwise wouldn’t be able
to,” Daly said. “We would
print you a card in the clinic
that can be utilized similarly
to a prescription insurance
card you could show up to
Len’s with.”
Len’s Drug Pharmacy
Manager Tilli Bjornberg said
people have already used the
program and it is going well.
“We’re excited for the
program because it’s going
to help people without insur-
ance to get medications that
are cost prohibitive for most
people,” she said. “I had one
medication that would be
$300 out of pocket, and it was
$75 with this program.”
Expensive medications,
such as insulin and other di-
abetic drugs, inhalers and
blood thinners, receive the
largest discounts in the pro-
gram, she said, though many
medications are included.
Bjornberg said patients
simply need to bring the card
from the hospital to the phar-
macy and present it when fill-
ing the prescription.
A TTENTION G RANT
C OUNTY
V ETERANS :
541-620-4255
Did you know a service-connected
disabled veteran is entitled to
FREE use of Oregon State Parks?
Our Business is picking up.
You never need a taxi until you need one;
put me on speed dial.
See your Grant County Veteran Services
Officer today for more information,
located at Grant County Courthouse. Jeff Wilcox
Richie Colbeth, Owner/Operator
09573
05515
Baker City
2830 10th St.
541-524-0122
05490
Every other Monday
in John Day at
Blue Mountain
Hospital
170 Ford Rd.
541-575-1311