8
October 19, 2018
T he C olumbia P ress
Health providers move to new Astoria clinic
Five years ago, Colum- the country, hospital officials
said. Since the Warren-
bia Memorial Hospital
ton clinic opened, it
opened its primary
has grown from one
care center and then
provider serving 2,000
added an urgent care
patients to six provid-
center in Warrenton.
ers serving 11,500 pa-
On Oct. 1, CMH Pri-
tients.
mary Care opened the
“Even after two ex-
doors of its new Asto- Flescher
pansions, we had out-
ria location.
grown the original
Three providers have
clinic,” said Nicole
moved practices from
Williams, CMH’s chief
the Warrenton clinic to
operating officer. “So
the new clinic in Asto-
rather than expand
ria. They are Dr. Kevin
again, we made the de-
Baxter, Dr. Anisa Rich-
cision to open a second
ardson and Mary Riz-
Erikson
location that would be
zo, family nurse practi-
more convenient for
tioner. They are joined
our patients in Asto-
by three new provid-
ria, Knappa and Pacific
ers, Rachel Flescher, a
County.”
physician’s assistant;
And last week, the
Dr. Elizabeth Erik-
Clatsop County Board
son, an osteopath;
of
Commissioners
and Wendy Hovden, a
Hovden
agreed to sell 7.73 acres
nurse practitioner.
Demand for primary med- at the North Coast Business
ical care has grown across Park to the hospital for an ex-
panded clinic and lab. Sales
price was $463,200.
Once it’s built, the clinic in
Warrenton Highlands Shop-
ping Center will move to the
new location near Costco.
n eW a storia staFF
Flescher is interested in
family medicine, pediatrics,
women’s health and diabetes
management. She graduated
from Oregon Health & Sci-
ence University.
Erikson focuses on the
whole person and whole fam-
ily care, and uses osteopath-
ic manipulations and my-
ofascial release techniques
with patients. She earned
her medical degree from
A.T. Still University’s School
of Osteopathic Medicine in
Mesa, Ariz.
Hovden has a master’s de-
gree from Walden University
in Minnesota.
Astoria Primary Care is in
the Park Medical Building.
Arnie’s: Diner to move near Warrenton City Hall
Continued from Page 1
near Warrenton High School.
Their agreement with New-
ton allows them to rent his
building adjacent to City Hall
for 5 to 10 years, at which
point they may choose to pur-
chase it.
“As a commissioner, one
of my duties is to do what
I think will drive the most
people to downtown Warren-
ton,” Newton said. “I’ve had
four people vying to rent my
building … but a restaurant,
I believe, will drive business
downtown. It will make the
businesses downtown more
valuable.”
Other prospective tenants
were a construction com-
pany, a church and a day-
care center, he said. But the
restaurant meshes well with
nearby senior housing proj-
ects, the city park, the library
and City Hall.
The building currently
The former Napa Auto Parts store in downtown Warrenton.
housing Arnie’s needs some
long-term repairs, Green
said, and she faced the pros-
pect of closing for up to eight
weeks to make them. Moving
made more sense.
“We’ll get a little bit of
breathing room and flexibil-
ity with how many we can
seat and how we configure
things,” she said. “The kitch-
en can run much more effi-
ciently because we can de-
sign it to do so. Right now,
equipment is where it fits,
not where it’s most efficient.”
Her first year managing
Arnie’s had ups and downs,
Green said. “I learned the
hard way to be more consid-
erate of all the staff that she
(Garrett) had carried.”
But once Green got her
bearings, business boomed.
“We have been so blessed
by our following,” she said.
“We just keep growing. War-
renton is really important to
us and we want to enhance
downtown.”