MCHD hires Ryan
Fowler as interim
administrator
50¢
VOL. 140
NO. 4
8 Pages
Wednesday, January 27, 2021
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Administrator set to wrap up 37-year
career in health care
Bob Houser retiring this week
New MCHD administrator Ryan Fowler
Morrow County Health District Administrator Bob Houser plans to trade in his desk soon for a golf cart. -Photo by David Sykes.
By David Sykes
With a 37-year career
in health care now behind
him, administrator Bob
Houser is leaving his office
behind and plans to spend
more time on the links. “I
love to golf and I’m going
to spend a lot of time play-
ing golf,” Houser says of
his retirement plans. That
and catching up on all the
“honey dos” he has put off
over the years.
Houser’s last day will
be this Thursday wrapping
up a five-year stint as the
Morrow County Health
District Administrator, a
job he says has been both
professionally and person-
ally gratifying. “I’m really
proud of what we accom-
plished here,” Houser says,
giving credit to both the
staff and district board for
his work at the district.
He especially points to the
completion and doubling
of the size of the Irrigon
Medical Clinic as a major
achievement under his ten-
ure with the district, which
covers all of Morrow Coun-
ty. “That was desperately
needed,” he says of the
Irrigon facility.
Houser also points to
the preparation work done
for an updating of the Hep-
pner hospital building and
the planned new clinic fa-
cility. ‘We now have seven
to eight clinic exam rooms
and under the plans for the
new clinic there will be 14
to 15 exams rooms plus
extra space for a visiting
specialist,” he explains.
Also, all the providers will
have their own offices in the
new building, which had
been put on hold because
of the COVID pandemic.
Since the health district
is county-wide Houser is
pleased with his efforts
made the past five years to
improve the communica-
tion and interaction with
the “North End” of the
county, a term he doesn’t
particularly like. “It’s one
county; let’s all get along
and we can do a much better
job,” he says. “Our com-
munication with Columbia
River Health (the health
facility in Boardman) has
improved 110 percent,” he
says of the changes. “We
talk every other week if not
weekly and I have attended
the chamber meetings in
Boardman and Irrigon,” he
says of his work to improve
relations, which in the past
have been rocky. The dis-
trict now has, in addition
to the Irrigon clinic with
its four physician assistants
and frequent visits from
Heppner doctors, a dis-
trict-owned physical thera-
py and home health depart-
ment located in Boardman.
“We have a presence and I
think that is only going to
get better as time progress-
es,” Houser says.
Although he has had
a long career in the med-
ical field, Houser didn’t
start out there. “I didn’t
start out to be a CEO in
health care. I graduated
from college with a degree
in secondary education and
taught speech and health
for seven years in North
Platt, Nebraska. He also
loves sports and coached
basketball and track there.
“It wasn’t until later that
health care excited me,”
he explains. “I had a very
good friend who was in the
business and looking for an
assistant administrator in
1984,” he says after taking
the job as administrator for
a very small rural hospital
in Preston, South Dakota
where he ran a 65-bed nurs-
ing home. Houser says back
then a person could get into
hospital administration by
being mentored by a pro-
fessional. He did go on to
take classes and get his
master’s degree in health
care. From a five-year stint
at the nursing home, Houser
went on to take a job at Re-
gional Health Care Center
in Winner, South Dakota
where he stayed for 10
years. While there he was
part of an upgrade that saw
a new 65-bed nursing home
built onto a fully remodeled
hospital.
While in South Dakota,
Houser went to visit his old-
er brother, who was living
in Spokane, and fell in love
with the Pacific Northwest.
His visits prompted him to
apply for an opening at the
John Day hospital where
he was accepted and spent
the next 15 years before
retiring in 2014.
While at John Day
Houser recruited Dr. Russ
Nichols out of residency
for a position there. Nichols
was later hired as a physi-
cian in the Morrow County
Health District and is the
one who then called Houser
out of retirement to take an
interim position with the
Morrow County Health
District. “I said I could do
a three-month interim then
came to meet with the board
and by the time the meeting
ended I had signed a five-
year contract,” he says of
his path to Morrow County.
Houser and his wife
Denise have three children
and two of them are also
in the health care field. His
twins, Rayce and Rayne,
both attended graduate
school at Pacific University
and will soon be graduating
Suma Cum Laude with a
doctorate in physical ther-
apy. They are wrapping
up their clinical visits in
preparing for entering prac-
tice soon. He also has three
girls and six grandchildren
from a previous marriage.
He and Denise also have
a son Tristan, who like his
dad, has a love of sports
and coaching, and helped
with the Mustang football,
basketball and baseball
programs. “The boys and
the coaches here treated
him great.” Houser says. He
recalls enjoying a healthy
rivalry with the Mustangs
when his children played
for Grant Union high school
in John Day. “My son and
daughter were competing
at John Day against Hep-
pner. Both sides of the fan
base did hold grudges,” he
says good heartedly, “And
I have nothing but respect
for the Heppner Mustangs,
Greg Grant and everyone
who runs their program,”
he says.
Houser says the future
of the health district looks
good and he praises the
staff which Morrow Coun-
ty should be very proud
of. “They are very com-
passionate and caring and
professional. It has been my
honor to be associated with
this district and this hospital
over the last five and a half
years,” he says.
The Morrow Coun-
ty Health District Board
Monday night signed a
six-month interim contract
with Ryan Fowler as the
new district administrator
to take over for Bob Houser
who is slated to retire this
Thursday. Board member
Carri Grieb said that the po-
sition had been advertised
as an “interim position.”
Fowler, 42, was pre-
viously CEO at the Low-
er Umpqua Hospital in
Reedsport. Fowler said he
was “super excited” about
working for MCHD. “I
really appreciate this oppor-
tunity,” he said. Fowler and
his wife have two children,
eight and 14, still at home,
two 18-year-olds and a
21-year-old.
Fowler is originally
from the Pocatello, Idaho,
area. He said that plans are
to have his family stay in
Reedsport through the end
of the school year so that his
14-year-old can finish out
his school year there.
Houser had earlier giv-
en notice of retirement but
agreed to stay longer with
the hope that a new admin-
istrator would be hired by
that time.
Suzanne Hurt
Kris Jones
In other staff changes,
former primary care clin-
ic services manager, Kris
Jones has been hired as
chief operating officer and
Suzanne Hurt, previously
a journalist with several
newspapers, was hired as
communications director
for the district.
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Concerning COVID-19
vaccines, Houser reported
that 145 MCHD frontline
health care workers had
been vaccinated with the
first dose for COVID-19,
and 200 of the second doses
had been received January
19. The second doses were
to have been administered
to health care workers on
January 21 in Heppner and
January 22 in Irrigon and
Boardman.
Chief Nursing Officer
Jamie Houck, BSN RN-
CNO, reported that MCHD
“has vaccinated 75 staff
members, volunteers, non-
skilled swing patients and
residents at Willow Creek
Terrace with their first dose
of the Moderna vaccine.”
Health care workers were to
have received their second
dose January 21 and Janu-
ary 28 in Heppner, January
27 in Irrigon, and February
1 at Willow Creek Terrace.
Houck said that per-
sonal protective equipment
“continues to hold steady
and we do not have any
supply shortages at this
time” adding, “MCHD has
“ample amounts of testing
supplies at this time.” She
said that “all staff members,
patients and visitors are
screened to temperature and
COVID-19 symptoms prior
to entering any location.”
Houser reported that
Dr. Jim Hejmanowski has
resigned effective Jan. 22
for family reasons and
noted that the district has
-See NEW MCHD ADMIN-
ISTRATOR/PAGE FOUR
MORROW COUNTY GRAIN GROWERS
350 MAIN STREET LEXINGTON OR 97839
CONTACT JUSTIN BAILEY 541-256-0229, 541-989-8221 EXT.
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