In 2009 the people of Union, Cove and North Powder raised money, got grants and worked together to build a beautiful new building for the Union Clinic. Later they added a dental clinic. It was the kind of clinic where you could be seen if you were sick, or cut yourself trying to fix the fence, or just needed to follow up with your provider. In order to manage the clinic and give it the benefit of having community funding and support, the people of Union, Cove and North Powder voted to create the South County Health District and elected the first 5-member board of directors. Unfortunately, times change and our little clinic became another casualty of the growing shortage of medical providers available to rural communities. In 2015 Grande Ronde Hospital agreed to assume the medical practice and provide doctors and nurse practitioners we needed. South County Health District kept the Union Family Dental Clinic and remained in the clinic building along with Grande Ronde’s new Union Clinic.
The Dental clinic is a great resource for our community. It provides basic care at affordable prices and gives district voters discounts on their dental care – but few people even know it exists. In 2020 a couple of amazing things happened. The board hired a new clinic manager, Adina Ferguson, who turned out to be extremely good at managing finances and the board hired a new Dentist – Dr. Mary Harrell – who had decades of experience with community dental clinics. Dr. Harrell taught our new manager how to run a community dental practice, how to get set up with the needed insurance contracts and a lot of other valuable skills. In a short time the district went from getting by to getting ahead.
The board took a look around and realized that they had the resources to look beyond managing a dental clinic and find other ways they could help the people in our district. The board is now working on a strategic plan to keep the clinic and any new projects funded into the future. The plan will include staffing for the clinic and the district so we will always have the manpower we need to serve our community.
The board has applied for grants so we can offer Teledentistry and Portable Dentistry to our patients. This will allow our dentist to screen patients and offer services virtually – by Zoom. This grant will also allow the dental clinic to purchase a mobile setup so we can do dental screenings away from the clinic and hopefully someday soon, do simple dental procedures in your home or other location. This telecommunications setup can allow us to do virtual consults, train our staff, provide virtual health seminars and meetings for the public and expand the medical services we now have in Union, Cove and North Powder by bringing them to us virtually from anywhere. We can train residents on the use of this technology and help them find doctors who provide telemedicine appointments for diabetes followup, urgent care issues, diet and nutrition consults, mental health counseling – and even some physical therapy sessions! We are expanding this technology to provide virtual exercise classes to the community, health and wellness training, education and seminars. We can build a library of health topic videos and materials that anyone can access on our website. We have partnered with some of the amazing organizations in our area who can help people find local doctors and programs to help them with their healthcare needs. We plan to sponsor training on how to find the right health insurance, vaccine clinics, a health fair and everything else we might find to help our district patrons. There is so much we can do!
What is a Health District? It’s a government entity created by the voters for the purpose of bringing health care resources, like clinics and health care providers to rural area where there is a shortage of medical and dental providers to care for people in the district. South County Health District was formed in 2009 to serve Union, Cove and North Powder with a medical clinic and a dental clinic. Unlike other districts in Eastern Oregon SCHD does not have a tax base, but operates solely on its income from dental fees.
Mary is our Treasurer. She represents Cove.
Mary has a well-rounded background with a wide variety of skills, including business and accounting. She is familiar with medical clinic operation and is always prepared to fully explore board decisions with the research she does. Mary is a huge supporter for the district.
Fred Represents Union.
Born and raised in Union Co. 29 year career with Oregon State Police in Coos Bay, then The Dalles. Volunteer fireman and board member with Mid Columbia Fire & Rescue for 15 years. Served on the Budget Committee in The Dalles. Past Executive Board Member Union Co Republican Committee. Board of Directors for Union Co
Fred Represents Union.
Born and raised in Union Co. 29 year career with Oregon State Police in Coos Bay, then The Dalles. Volunteer fireman and board member with Mid Columbia Fire & Rescue for 15 years. Served on the Budget Committee in The Dalles. Past Executive Board Member Union Co Republican Committee. Board of Directors for Union Co. Search & Rescue (member for 14 years.) Volunteer with Union EMS & Fire. Board member 2 Irrigation Districts and 2 years on SCHD Board.
Maja represents North Powder. She will officially take office on July 1st 2023.
Maja is a corrections officer, working in Baker County. She is also a community volunteer in North Powder. Her dedication to her community will make her a valuable member of our board as we move forward.
Susie is our President and represents North Powder
Fierce advocate for our district and Grange Master in North Powder, Susie works at their library and spends countless hours on her duties as board president for SCHD. Susie recognizes the unique value of our district and is passionate about helping us bring new services to the people in our area. Susie has been on the board for 2 years.
Debbie is our Secretary and Grant Writer. She represents Union
Billing, Collections and Office Manager for Hinck Medical for 10 years, Retired from SAIF as a business consultant in 2019 after 17 years. She has been a business owner in Union for over 20 years, including Clark & Daughter Auctions. Debbie has been on the SCHD board for 3 yea
Debbie is our Secretary and Grant Writer. She represents Union
Billing, Collections and Office Manager for Hinck Medical for 10 years, Retired from SAIF as a business consultant in 2019 after 17 years. She has been a business owner in Union for over 20 years, including Clark & Daughter Auctions. Debbie has been on the SCHD board for 3 years. She started the outreach to other local groups who have helped us with grants and current projects. Her experience with businesses all over Eastern Oregon has been a great asset.
Gerry represents Cove. She will officially take office on July 1st.
Gerry worked in healthcare with Grande Ronde Hospital before she retired to become a community volunteer in Cove and now for our health district.
Kathy represents the district at large but lives in Union. She will officially take office July 1, 2023
Kathy is a nurse who has been part of the Union County's healthcare system for many years. Her experience will be invaluable to the district as we move forward.
We meet at the Catherine Creek Community Center 667 N Main Street, Union. The public is welcome
Catherine Creek Community Center 667 N Main Street, Union. Starts at 1PM. Public is welcome. Public comments are allowed. The agenda will be put on the site prior to the meeting.
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