Wolff to retire from Columbia
Basin Electric Co-Op
HEPPNER
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azette
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VOL. 138
NO. 44 6 Pages
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Jamie Houck on board as
MCHD chief nursing officer
Newly hired Chief
Nursing Officer with the
Morrow County Health
District, Jamie Houck, 40,
not only has a Bachelor of
Science degree in nursing,
but also a bachelor’s in
business.
She obtained her bach-
elor’s in business from
Emporia State University
in 2002 and her bachelor’s
in nursing from Emporia in
2012. She started her em-
ployment as CNO at Mor-
row County Health District
on May 22 of this year.
After graduating from
nursing school, she worked
as a registered nurse at
Morris County Hospital in
Council Grove, KS. Morris
County Hospital is a 25-bed
critical access hospital that
has a lot of similarities with
Pioneer Memorial Hospital.
In 2014, her husband
Brandon accepted a posi-
tion as the wildlife biol-
ogist with the US Forest
Service on the Shoshone
National Forest in Dubois,
Wyoming. In August of
2014 they packed up and
moved from Kansas, the
“only place she had ever
called home,” to Dubois,
WY, a small town near the
south end of Yellowstone
National Park.
Dubois is 87 miles from
the closest hospital and
once people found out that
she was an RN they started
asking if she could help
cover open shifts on the
ambulance as well as at
the local medical clinic.
While working for the am-
bulance service she took
and responded to 911 calls
but was also able to work
in a pilot program to help
serve patients with chronic
diseases who had multiple
hospital visits in the last six
months. The goal of this
program was to keep these
patients at home and out of
the hospital. She would go
into the homes of these pa-
tients and complete assess-
ments, make sure they were
taking medications as well
as communicate directly
with their providers.
In 2015 she accepted
the School Nurse/Food
Service Director position
at Dubois K-12 school.
While she was working at
the school, she cared for
all the medical needs of the
students. She helped imple-
ment the backpack program
so kids who needed meals
on the weekend had them.
She also started the Sum-
mer Food Service Program
where kids could come to
the school and eat lunch for
free during the summer. In
2017, she started the Farm
to School Program which
works with local farms and
producers to get local food
into the schools. The first
year of the program two lo-
cal beef producers donated
beef to the school’s Farm
to School Program for the
school to use in the school
meal program.
In June of 2018 her
husband accepted the dis-
trict ranger job here in Hep-
pner. She started working at
Pioneer Memorial Hospital
as an RN in September of
2018 and took the new role
as CNO in May of 2019.
“I have a passion for
fulfilling a leadership role
with the Morrow Coun-
ty Health District,” said
Houck. “I would like to
have all nursing vacancies
filled at the hospital and
home health. I want to be a
positive mentor for all the
nursing staff and continue
to exhibit the values of
patient-centered care. My
goal in this position is to
continue to push nursing
toward excellence in qual-
ity, patient safety, and ser-
vice. I want to implement
strategies to solve existing
problems that will benefit
Morrow County Health Dis-
trict CNO Jamie Houck
the entire district and the
patients we serve. I want to
display commitment and
develop the highest level of
competency for the nursing
staff.”
“With the planned re-
model of the Heppner cam-
pus, I expect to see growth
in the services we are able
to offer our patients over the
next few years,” she said.
She and her husband
Brandon have two children,
Hunter, 14, who is in the
seventh grade at Heppner
Jr./Sr. High School, and Re-
ese, 10, who is a fifth grader
at Heppner Elementary
School. She has no extend-
ed family in the area, with
most of her family living in
Kansas.
Thomas Wolff, CEO/
General Manager of Co-
lumbia Basin Electric Co-
operative, Inc. and CEO
and manager of Columbia
Fiber, LLC, has notified the
CBEC Board of Directors
of his intention to retire
early next year. His final
day of employment will be
February 3, 2020.
Wolff said, “My roles
at CBEC and at Columbia
Fiber have been an en-
gaging experience. I am
grateful for my 22 years
of employment at CBEC.
I have evolved profession-
ally and personally. Many
improvements to the Co-Op
infrastructure have been
accomplished.”
Wolff, who was raised
in Heppner, has spent 22
years at the utility, begin-
ning as chief financial offi-
cer in 1998. A CPA, Wolff
had audited several Oregon
electric co-ops prior to
coming to CBEC. He was
promoted to CEO/General
Manager on September 1,
2014.
Wolff has served on
several industry-related
state and regional orga-
nizations and forums and
is particularly proud of
being elected by his peers
to the Northwest Public
Power Association Board
of Trustees.
Wolff and his wife Kar-
en expect to remain in Hep-
Thomas Wolff
pner, while looking forward
to some travel, warmer
winters and enjoying more
time with their grandson.
Local teacher receives
Community Bank award
Community Bank has
selected Sarah Matheny,
first grade teacher at Hep-
pner Elementary School,
as the winner of their Apple
Appreciation award trophy
this year.
During the month of
September Community
Bank branches collected
teacher nominations for
their new Apple Appreci-
ation Awards. The award
acknowledges current K-12
teachers in the local com-
munity while also sup-
porting school clubs. The
winning teacher from each
Community Bank location
was presented with an Ap-
ple Appreciation Award tro-
Sarah Matheny
phy and asked to choose a
club or student organization
at their school to receive
a $200 donation from the
bank. Matheny chose the
Heppner Parent-Teacher
Club to receive the $200
donation.
“She is so nice and
lets us go on free recess
and she’s always happy,”
comments one of her stu-
dents. She “goes above
and beyond for all of her
students,” and “She helps
her students succeed as stu-
dents and individuals,” said
those who nominated her.
“We were overwhelmed
with the out-pouring of kind
words for so many teachers
in the region. They do in-
credible work educating our
youth and we want to thank
all the amazing teachers in-
vesting in our future,” said
Community Bank President
Tom Moran.
Voters say yes to mayor recall
Kemp had already resigned
Voters in Lexington
said yes to recalling mayor
Marcia Kemp in an election
that ended last Tuesday.
Kemp had already resigned
the position, but the ballots
had been mailed out, so the
election was concluded. Of
the 189 ballots sent out 62
voted to recall and 42 voted
no for a total voter partici-
pation of 55 percent.
After the ballots were
mailed out Kemp had sent
a letter to the news media
announcing her resigna-
tion. The town council did
not receive a formal letter
stating her resignation but
according to legal counsel
the letter to the media was
enough to take Kemp out of
the position.
Heppner group holds Fall Festival
JV volleyball team
finishes season
The Heppner Outreach Council hosted the
first Heppner Fall Festival on Saturday. The
event boasted carnival games, tractor rides, a
haunted house, vendors, food, beer and mu-
sic. -Contributed photos.
The Heppner High School JV Volleyball team has finished their successful 2019 volleyball
season for the year.
Pictured left to right: top row-Katie Wilson, Brook Wilson, Dusty Robinson, Ireland Martin,
Madison Ashbeck, Hailey Cimmyotti, Hailey Wenberg, Kennisyn Wilkins, Aubri Rodriguez,
Tiffany Hollis; front row-Camryn Scrivner, Hailey Holmgren, Sage Ferguson, Daralynn Tee-
man, Julianna Teeman.
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