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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 4, 2018)
A16 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM GIFFORD continued from Page A1 Linda Medical School. After completing their internships, Gifford and his medical school buddy, Dr. Richard A. Carpenter, started practicing in Pend- leton. The two hospitals in town at the time didn’t have any emergency room doc- tors so town physicians cov- ered. Gifford and Carpenter did more than their share. “We were two young bucks covering most of it,” Gifford said with a grin. After nine months, the pair of doctors started a practice in Heppner. The young physicians had their hands full. “In Heppner, there were no specialists. It was good to have nine months in Pend- leton, before we dived into the abyss,” Gifford said. “Our saving grace was the experience of the nurses there. We just acted like we knew what we were doing to hide our intimidation and insecurities.” Such humility is pure Gifford. “I’m a people person with a type A personal- ity, but I’m not the smart- est physician on the block,” he said. “I feel I have savvy, though. Savvy has gotten me STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Dr. Joseph Gifford dictates patient notes into a hand-held recorder on Thursday at his practice in Hermiston. through.” The physician, gener- ally upbeat and ebullient, doesn’t gloss over hard sub- jects during appointments. “He’s not afraid to be real with his patients,” said nurse Nikkie Griffin. “He’s hon- est with them. He doesn’t sugarcoat.” Gifford has noticed plenty of changes during his career, both positive and negative. Doctors specialize more and insurance companies play a larger role in determining care. It’s more difficult and against some of the tough- est competition the youth wrestlers will face is just as important. “It’s a very tough tour- nament,” Larson said, “and I think last year we had one guy place. So, if you look at it like that, really we go there and it’s — everybody wants to place, don’t get me wrong, but we look at it as one, let’s go get more matches and two, if we’re not where we need to be technically, ath- letically, whatever, let’s go find out what it looks like, let’s see what our goal is.” Last year there were over 4,000 wrestlers participating in the tournament from the 6-and-under age group all the way up to age 18. “At this age, winning doesn’t matter,” Larson added. “We want them to be happy. We want them to like wrestling. We want them to go get matches, we just want their skill level of wrestling to get better.” After worlds, Hermis- ton will be competing in the Tri-Cities before making another trip to Nevada for the Western Junior Region- als in Las Vegas. RENO continued from Page A1 and forty five minutes of a tough practice last week with 11 youth wrestlers in attendance. The elementary and mid- dle school aged kids, along with their parents, practice in the high school’s mat room for nearly two hours most evenings. Practices include a number of different drills paired with endurance train- ing to keep the kids not only physically tough but men- tally prepared for the com- petition they will face. En route one of the two biggest tournaments of the year, the team has amassed a collection of medals and trophies. In one of its more recent outings in Pomeroy, Herm- iston had seven wrestlers stand atop the podium in first place and one with a second place finish. This upcoming week- end, Hermiston will be fac- ing wrestlers from coast to coast and while Larson admits placing is always the goal, seeing improvements WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018 FROM PAGE A1 expensive to have an inde- pendent practice. “The independence of physicians is gone to a great extent,” he said. On the other hand there are “fantastic strides in med- icine” such as pharmaceu- ticals, enhanced surgical procedures and increased human longevity. “A lot of progress in med- icine has happened in 44 years,” he said. Gifford moved to Herm- iston 27 years ago as a fam- ily physician and obstetri- cian. Sixteen years ago, he added the urgent care clinic. The hospital bought and assumed ownership of Gif- ford Medical last July. Gif- ford, who continued work- ing there part-time, is easing himself toward the door. Patients and colleagues are dreading the 19th when he officially retires. “He is one of those peo- ple who truly cares about his patients,” said Natasha Ell- wanger, the practice man- ager. “He’s gone to nurs- ing homes. He’s gone to people’s houses. You just don’t find that any more in a physician.” “He has a big heart,” Griffin said. “Really huge.” Ellwanger, who started in 2002 doing filing, said patients are sad at the thought of Gifford’s depar- ture. Many have called the office just to say good-bye. She said Gifford saw 1,200 patients in his practice last year and that doesn’t count people he treated in urgent care. People often stop Gif- ford in town just to say hello. In retirement, Gifford looks forward to traveling more with his wife, Lisa. The boat he keeps moored in the San Juan Islands will get more use. His three chil- dren and four grandsons will see him more often. He is a pilot, so he’ll spend extra time in the air, too. Good Shepherd is recruit- ing a doctor to take Gifford’s place. As Gifford looked back over the years, he said he is blessed to have found a profession that he loved so much. He recalled his father, a musician, telling him to look for a job that he looked forward to every day. “You’ll never have to work a day in your life,” said Gifford, reciting his father’s words. “You’ll get to work.” SWITCH AND GET $ 450 OFF THE LATEST SMARTPHONES No trade-in required Offer ends April 26 STUDENT OF THE WEEK BRIANNA HERNANDEZ Senior - McLoughlin High School Brianna is a senior at Mac-Hi and has a 4.0 Grade Point Average. She is a member of National Honor Society, Varsity Club and Key Club. Brianna is currently ASB Treasurer. Brianna is a two sport athlete she plays Basketball and Track. She has been a Greater Oregon League Scholar Athlete. Brianna is very active in the Leadership at Mac-Hi by giving many hours of community service to her school and community. 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