A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2018
NEWS
Armstrong to open new clinic
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL.
Eastern Oregon Telecom has moved into its brand new building at 2180 Kelli Blvd. in
Hermiston. For photos of the celebration, see A15.
EOT celebrates new building, ownership
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
Eastern Oregon Tele-
com’s new headquarters are
much larger than their pre-
vious ones, but it was still
crowded on Thursday night
as dozens of supporters and
employees gathered to cele-
brate the new building.
The building wasn’t
the only change they were
marking. EOT announced
two weeks ago that its par-
ent company, Umatilla
Electric, had sold it to senior
management.
“This is exciting new
times for all of us for a lot of
reasons and I’m so grateful
you’re here to celebrate,”
Franell told the group.
Longtime members of
the “EOT family” came
from as far away as Las
Vegas, California and Pend-
leton (which is “at least as
far,” Franell joked) to cele-
brate with drinks and hors
d’voeurs and drawings for
gift baskets from local busi-
nesses who get their internet
and phone service through
EOT.
The
new
building,
located at 2180 S.E. Kelli
Blvd. in Hermiston behind
the old Hermiston Foods
plant,
provides
more
office space for staff, extra
restrooms, a reception area,
increased amenities like a
mail room and a large shop
that allows the company to
park its vehicles and equip-
ment indoors and on site.
The extra room should
come in handy as Eastern
Oregon Telecom starts on
the new, employee-owned
leg of its journey. Franell
said the new owners are
still consulting with attor-
neys and employees before
deciding how that will work.
The company also expects
to do some strategic plan-
ning before expanding into
new service areas, which
will likely result in addi-
tional staff. EOT currently
has about 3,500 customers.
On Thursday Franell
introduced the current staff
to attendees before the rib-
bon cutting ceremony, not-
ing their roles in making
EOT run smoothly. The
senior management team
includes Franell, Chief
Financial Officer Paul Kee-
ler and Chief Operating
Officer Richard Holbo.
Franell said when Kee-
ler came to work for EOT
he “changed the business
forever” and got the com-
pany on a strong financial
footing. EOT has been pro-
viding services since 2001,
and Franell said those in the
room who had been cus-
tomers since the beginning
knew that they had gone
through some rocky times.
“For those who have seen
the early days, it’s astound-
ing how well we have come
along,” he said.
He said after years on
the Greater Hermiston
Area Chamber of Com-
merce board, it was fun to
be the recipient of one of
the chamber’s ribbon-cut-
ting ceremonies for the
first time. Chamber director
Debbie Pedro said Franell
and EOT have always been
a “great partner” for the
chamber and in the commu-
nity and it was exciting to
see them get such a beauti-
ful new building.
“We feel very fortunate,
and proud of what you’ve
accomplished,” she said.
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When her contract with
the Umatilla Hospital Dis-
trict ends on Oct. 29, Jen-
nifer Armstrong wants her
patients to know she isn’t
going anywhere.
Armstrong, a nurse prac-
titioner, plans to open up a
private wellness center in
Umatilla after the hospital
district board voted in May
to not renew her contract to
continue providing services
at the Encore Wellness 4
Life clinic — the city’s only
medical clinic.
Danice McBee, who sits
on the board, said the spe-
cial taxing district wanted
to “go in a different direc-
tion” but they were still dis-
cussing what that would
look like and are not ready
to announce anything yet.
She declined to elaborate on
what had prompted the deci-
sion. They do plan to con-
tinue using the tax money
collected by the special dis-
trict to provide medical ser-
vices to the community
in some form after Arm-
strong’s contract ends, she
said.
Armstrong and her hus-
band Mark Keith, who
have already opened a sec-
ond Encore Wellness 4 Life
location in Kennewick, are
hoping to open the new pri-
vate clinic on Nov. 1 so that
Umatilla doesn’t see any
gap in services. They have
purchased a three-acre lot
just west of the intersection
of Highway 730 and High-
way 395. The abandoned
white two-story house will
be converted into a medi-
cal clinic by November if
all goes according to plan,
while the “wellness com-
plex” will add hospice hous-
ing, walking trails and other
features later.
“It’s going to take a
while to get all the other
things built, but a lot of the
same services (as the current
clinic) are going to be here,”
she said. “It’s not going to
feel like a clinic, but we will
STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY
Nurse Practitioner Jennifer Armstrong stands in abandoned
two-story home that is being remodeled into a medical
clinic, just west of Highways 730 and 395.
still do what patients are
accustomed to.”
Those extra services will
include living quarters for
hospice care, adult respite
care and even longterm care,
Keith said. They also plan
to sell products such hemp-
based CBD supplements
and kombucha, a fermented
tea (the Mayo Clinic’s web-
site states that while kombu-
cha does contain health-pro-
moting substances such
as probiotics, in light of
health claims about things
like preventing cancer, cur-
rently “valid medical stud-
ies of kombucha tea’s role in
human health are very lim-
ited”). They want to add RV
spots for family members
of patients to be able to stay
overnight during visits if
needed and create walking
trails around the property.
A group of practitioners
who Armstrong currently
contracts with have agreed
to follow her to the new
location, Keith said. He
said there will be specialists
who can consult patients on
everything from allergies to
hormones.
“It’s going to be a desti-
nation for wellness, not just
sick care,” he said.
Armstrong worked from
2000 to 2006 at Gifford
Medical Clinic in Hermiston
before coming to Umatilla,
where she has provided free
sports physicals to teens in
the community and walk-in
services for patients who
said they couldn’t get seen
for days or weeks at other
clinics.
“In April we had 62
(urgent care) walk-ins that
got in in under an hour,”
Keith said.
He and Armstrong said
patients come from all over,
not just Umatilla — she
even uses telemedicine to
see patients as far away as
Salem.
While Keith said Arm-
strong has built a loyal fol-
lowing during her time in
Umatilla, Armstrong said
she wasn’t told by the Uma-
tilla Hospital District why
they had decided to not con-
tinue to pay her to provide
services in the district when
her contract is up at the end
of October.
She said the upside of the
hospital board’s decision is
it has provided the opportu-
nity to create an “amazing
project” for the community
beyond current services.
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