Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 31, 2018)
A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2018 HEALTH Umatilla sees health care GSCHS meeting offers updates shifts, some new clinics as well as health information By JADE MCDOWELL STAFF WRITER By JADE MCDOWELL STAFF WRITER Umatilla, a town of 7,132, is headed toward a future of three medical clinics. Family Health Associates of Herm- iston will open a new clinic in Umatilla on Nov. 15 at the building that formerly housed Encore Wellness 4 Life. Jenni- fer Armstrong, the nurse practitioner in charge of Encore, plans to open a new wellness clinic at a different loca- tion in Umatilla. And Columbia River Health, which recently announced a new partnership with Carlson’s Uma- tilla Drug, has purchased property to place a clinic of their own in Umatilla. It’s a lot of changes, but should result in better access to health care for Umatilla residents. It could also have spillover benefits for Hermiston residents, said Umatilla Hospital Dis- trict board member Danice McBee, as Umatilla residents currently seeking care at the Hermiston Family Health Associates location switch to receiving care in Umatilla. “They’ve kind of outgrown their space at the hospital (in Hermiston),” McBee said. The Umatilla Hospital District noti- fied Armstrong in May that they would not be renewing her contract to provide clinic services at the district-owned building at 1890 Seventh St. Now they have announced that Family Health Associates, which is led by Dr. Derek Earl, will open a clinic in the building on Nov. 15. McBee said the hospital district board is very happy to see FHA open a Umatilla branch. “I think it’s going to be great,” she said. Although Armstrong will no lon- ger contract with the hospital district, Umatilla is not losing her as a provider. She and her husband, Mark Keith, pur- chased a large house at 82346 Bucks Lane (just off Highway 730 before Interstate 82) and have remodeled it It was a year of growth and change for Good Shepherd Health Care System, according to CEO Dennis Burke. Burke shared the hospital’s progress over the 2017-18 fis- cal year at a community meet- ing Oct. 24 that included a health fair and a talk by health expert Joe Piscatella. Good Shepherd now has more than 700 employees and 50 volunteers, with an annual payroll of more than $43 mil- lion. The hospital has seen a significant increase in patient satisfaction scores. And while about one-third of Oregon’s hospitals are operating in the red right now, Burke said, GSHCS is doing well financially. “We’re in a very sound fiscal state,” he said. “I think we have a lot of staying power.” Over the past year, GSHCS opened a 33,000-square-foot wing that includes a new wom- en’s center — a total invest- ment of about $12 million. It also opened a new urology suite, added chiropractic medi- cine, remodeled the home med- ical equipment store, purchased new state-of-the-art equipment and acquired Gifford Medical’s urgent care and private practice clinic. On the programs side, GSHCS launched a personal home care service, a home respiratory care service and expanded offerings in areas, such as speech therapy and dia- betes management. Burke said in the past year the education department had a total of 3,192 educational classes or events, reaching more than 16,000 STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Cathy Putnam, behind the cash register, helps customers with their prescriptions Thursday at Columbia River Pharmacy in Umatilla. into Encore Wellness 4 Life Umatilla, a private wellness center that will offi- cially start seeing patients Nov. 1. Keith said patients can expect to see the same team as the old site, with the addition of provider Jan Atigbi. They will include more traditional medical care in addition to “natural and holistic care” such as supplements. Armstrong said she doesn’t see FHA as competition. Right now she refers patients to Earl and he refers patients to her, she said, and she plans to continue their collaboration. “It’s not at all ‘us against them,’” she said. “We’re all working together to provide care for the community.” Columbia River Health CEO Seth Whitmer said CRH has already pur- chased property for a planned clinic to be built sometime in the next few years. CRH has also acquired the former Carlson’s Umatilla Drug. Cathy Put- nam, who has owned the pharmacy and drug store since 1985, is joining the Columbia River Health family and will continue running the pharmacy. They will have an open house Nov. 8 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. with free flu shots from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. BEST DONATE YOUR CAR HIGH SPEED INTERNET 1-844-533-9173 Get Connected for as low as 14.95/mo. $ first 12 months HyperLinkh High-Speed Internet Satellite Internet Connection speeds up to 75 Mbps* What you get with HughesNet Satellite Internet: ! 50X faster than DSL!!** ! High speed with fiber optic technology ! Fast speeds up to 25 Mbps ! Available everywhere ! Fast download time for streaming videos, music and more! ! Larger data allowance (up to 50 GB per month) Add High Speed Internet 14 . 95 /mo. 190 Channels Ask About A FREE 3 Day Vacation Voucher To Over 20 Destinations!!! Speed performance allowing vou to stream & download shows, music, photos, large files and more on multiple devices HughesNet is a registered trademark of Hughes Network Systems, LLC, an EchoStar company. The HughsNet Gen5 service plans are designed to deliver download speeds of 25 Mbps and upload speeds of 3 Mbps, but individual customers may experience different speeds at different times of the day. Speeds and uninterrupted use are not guaranteed and may vary based on a variety of factors including: the configuration of your computer, the number of concurrent users, network of Internet congestion, the capabilities and content of the websites you are accessing, network management practices as deemed necessary, and other factors. When you connected to HughesNet service using Wi-Fi, your experience will vary based on your proximity to the Wi-Fi source and the strength of the signal. *Speeds may vary depending on distance, line quality and number of devices used concurrently. Subject to availability. Some prices shown may be introductory offers. Equipment fees, taxes and other fees and restrictions may apply. **Speed comparison based on 1.5 Mbps DSL. • Watch and record 16 shows at once • Get built-in Netflix and YouTube • Watch TV on your mobile devices $ Help Prevent Blindness Get A Vision Screening Annually 855-977-9436 Upgrade to the Hopper® 3 Smart HD DVR Hopper upgrade fee $5/mo. CONTACT YOUR LOCAL AUTHORIZED RETAILER 49.99/mo. For the first 3 months (Offers varv bv speed & location) Technology... Value... TV!... FREE TOWING TAX DEDUCTIBLE Enjov big-time Internet speeds without spending big bucks! Get Connected for as low as specifically to the needs of area employees in manufacturing and shipping who experience chronic pain or are at risk of job-related injuries. Burke said GSHCS plans to keep Gifford’s urgent care clinic open seven days a week soon and will continue push- ing awareness of its virtual care clinic as another alternative to ER visits on weekends. In addi- tion, they plan to start their own family practice clinic and recruit more physicians and other providers to the area. “We’re probably about 15 physicians short of what we need in the community,” he said. To help with that, Good Shepherd is partnering with St. Anthony Hospital in Pendleton and Kadlec Regional Medical Center in the Tri-Cities to cre- ate a rural residency program for doctors in training. Before the update on GSHCS program, attendees were given time to browse a health fair. Booths ranged from free flu shots and screenings to information on first aid, report- ing sexual assault and hospice. Dawn Germain and Lianna Correa joked that their booth was too scary for most of the men. “They see the word ‘lacta- tion’ and they run away,” Cor- rea said. The booth drew a number of interested women, how- ever, who learned more about the hospital’s lactation assis- tance services. Germain said they visit new mothers on the maternity ward and also work with pediatricians to find women who need assistance with breast-feeding. Your Family Deserves The Imagine The Difference You Can Make EARTHLINK INTERNET people. “I’m not aware of any hos- pital — our size, certainly, but any hospital — that does more in terms of educational events than we do,” he said. Burke also shared successes in receiving new awards and certifications, and reaching new standards of patient care. For example, Good Shepherd Medical Group scored a 97.2 out of 100 under a Medicare/ Medicaid incentive program that will reward the clinics with additional reimbursement funds for their quality care, improvement, efficiency and engagement. Good Shepherd did have some setbacks in the last year. A construction-related fire in April caused “several million dollars” worth of damage to the hospital and equipment stored above the fire. Burke also noted an increase in emergency room visits from 19,818 to 20,890. “That’s something we try to keep down,” he said. Looking toward the future, Burke said GSHCS was just 10 days away from the launch of its new patient records program, Epic. As part of that launch, patients will have access to a “superb” online patient por- tal that will give them 24/7 access to medical records and lab results, the ability to sched- ule their own appointments and to request prescription refills online. Good Shepherd is also working on creation of a com- prehensive pain-management program that will provide alter- natives to opioids. Interwoven with that effort is the hospital’s goal of creating an “industrial medicine” program targeted CALL TODAY Save 20%! Subject to availability. Restrictions apply. Internet not provided by DISH and will be billed separately. 1-866-373-9175 Offer ends 11/14/18. Savings with 2 year price guarantee with AT120 starting at $59.99 compared to everyday price. All offers require credit qualification, 2 year commitment with early termination fee and eAutoPay. Prices include Hopper Duo for qualifying customers. Hopper, Hopper w/ Sling or Hopper 3 $5/mo. more. Upfront fees may apply based on credit qualification. Fees apply for additional TVs: Hopper $15/mo., Joey $5/mo., Super Joey $10/mo. All new customers are subject to a one-time, nonrefundable processing fee. WE HEAR YOU! Phonak Virto™ B Phonak Virto B are the world’s fi rst hearing aids with Biometric Calibration and are precisely calibrated to your individual ear anatomy for better hearing performance. “ I don’t think the âëďë̏ĩģĹĔĭĊéû×ĸë âëëďĝ×ýéýõ #ğëög×Ċéëďû×éďǥĩ öĔĩĩëďýďĸĔĊĸëéDz The smallest Phonak custom hearing aid is now even more discreet. Made from medical grade titanium, it is durable and light weight. LOCAL, INDEPENDENT AUDIOLOGIST Working within the community of Pendleton, our clinic provides a variety of hearing healthcare services including hearing assessments and rehabilitation, education, and counseling. SERVICE YOU CAN RELY ON! You can trust Renata to provide a complete hearing evaluation and a professional diagnosis of your specifi c hearing loss. Call for an appointment with Renata today and start hearing what you’ve been missing. Martha who sought assistance with her husband’s fâëďë̏ĩģDz I’m sure of it. What he did for me is something that can never be replaced. Greg Walden is one of the good ones.” “ Walden’s record on constituent services is a good one, helping residents of the 2nd District navigate bureaucracies ranging from the Social Security Administration to the Mureau of Land Management.” (The Bulletin, 4/21/18) 2237 SW Court, Pendleton Renata Anderson, MA Pam Wagenaar, 541-276-5053 Administrative Assistant www.renataanderson.com PAID FOR BY WALDEN FOR CONGRESS, INC.
