Having served as a primary care physician at Adventist Health Columbia Gorge, formerly known as Mid-Columbia Medical Center, since 2014, I have had the privilege of calling the beautiful Columbia Gorge my home for nearly 10 years. During this time, I have seen the strength, resilience and heart of our community be tested by many changes, highs, and lows, especially in the last three years of the coronavirus pandemic.

As the recently named chair of primary care at Adventist Health Columbia Gorge, I am very excited to have the opportunity to bring my years of leadership experience in both rural and urban settings to our primary care practice as we enter yet another period of change. Not only are we now part of Adventist Health, but we are also making great headway in our recruiting and retention efforts.

Over the past few years, our hospital, like health systems nationwide, has felt the impact of provider shortages. The pandemic was extraordinarily challenging for frontline healthcare workers, as we struggled to balance our concerns for our personal health and safety with our desire to continue to serve our community. Daily reminders of the devastating effects of the virus itself, as well as consequences of efforts to mitigate its spread, led to an epidemic of burnout among healthcare providers nationwide. In our community, we had multiple providers resign in primary and specialty care, many of whom were long-standing pillars of our healthcare community. We acknowledge that the departure of these providers caused stress and frustration for their patients and colleagues alike, but unfortunately it reflects the reality of healthcare today.

We have been working hard to combat this trend. I am pleased to share that we have made significant progress and am grateful to have been able to welcome 22 new providers within the last year. Eleven of these new providers are fellow primary care physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants, who care for patients in Pediatrics, Family Medicine, and Internal Medicine.  The other 11 span a host of specialties including ENT (care of ears, nose, and throat conditions), surgery and emergency medicine.

As we’ve welcomed these new providers, we have been able to reassign patients whose previous provider had left or retired from the practice to one of these new primary care clinicians.  We are happy to announce that we are ready to serve all patients in need of primary care services.

While there is no magic fix to the staffing issues the healthcare industry faces — and there is still work to be done to further strengthen our provider teams across services at Adventist Health Columbia Gorge — our recent team growth signals a new chapter. We will continue our recruitment initiatives to ensure we are not limited in our ability to provide quality care, and I am confident that our continued efforts and our commitment to this community will carry us into a bright future ahead.

In my new role, I am honored to welcome, lead and work alongside talented caregivers who always strive to put the needs of their patients first. We look forward to serving on your healthcare team and providing the best possible care to The Dalles and Columbia River Gorge community.

Patients are invited to establish care through Family Medicine by calling 541-296-9151, or Internal Medicine by calling 541-506-6920. Patients will be scheduled according to need and availability, with those with more acute needs able to receive an appointment as soon as the next day. We appreciate your patience as we work to connect patients with the care and providers they need.