Groundbreaking Begins for Enterprise Medical Facility

Given the dust that arose when folks walked across the future home of an integrated health clinic in Enterprise during Saturday’s groundbreaking, it’s difficult to image the parcel of land has a high water table.

Yet dealing with that challenge will take roughly the first year of effort to build, a partnership between Wallowa Valley Center for Wellness and Winding Waters Medical Clinic.

The next step beginning shortly will be excavating the property, formerly owned by Wallowa Memorial Hospital, and allowing it to percolate.

Although no part of the design has been finalized because no permits have been pulled, the building will sit with the nearby mountains as a backdrop.

The $7 million 17,000 square-foot building on 3.2 acres is designed with one major goal.

“This new integrated health services building is a commitment to a myriad of services under one roof,” said Chantay Jett, executive director of Wallowa Valley Center for Wellness. “Our goal is 100 percent access and zero percent disparity.

Dr. Elizabeth Powers, who has been CEO of Winding Waters up until last week, said the facility will be designed as a haven for the community where residents can “come with questions and needs” and find open arms.

The plan includes a teaching kitchen for Wallowa Memorial Hospital’s Complete Health Improvement Program and space for staff from Building Healthy Families.

Jett said both entities are focused on using the most cost-effective possible in the construction process, and utilizing local vendors and tradesmen whenever possible.

A general contractor has not been chosen, but Jett said Saturday that decision is “close.”

Oregon Rep. Greg Baretto and Sen. Bill Hansel were guests for the groundbreaking. They will be instrumental in obtaining $1.5 million from state lottery funds to help fund the facility.

Hansell said both he and Baretto were excited to see that everything was in place for the funding request to move forward.

He lauded the coordinators for their vision and for approaching the funding as supplementary, not just an “entitlement.”

“You are looking at it as receiving help from the state, helping you to do what’s best for the community,” he told Jett and Powers. “We’re excited about joining your team.”

Also on hand for Saturday’s ceremony was Bill Wilson, senior associate for Westby Associates in Vancouver, Wash.

His firm, which specializes in helping nonprofits with major projects, will assist in public relations and obtaining financing for the medical facility.

Wilson was instrumental in bringing a new health clinic to Elgin through a $1.25 million loan from the state.

Wilson said he has worked with Baretto and Hansel previously and called them “a good team.”

As posted in the Chieftain, July, 2017.

https://www.wallowa.com/20170815/goundbreaking-begins-2-year-process-for-enterprise-medical-facility

Photo by Paul Wahl for The Chieftain

Here is a link to the updated information on the clinic, as of the New Year:
https://www.wallowa.com/local_news/20171206/integrated-health-clinic-in-enterprise-ready-to-roll

Telehealth Robot

Winding waters clinic has obtained a Telehealth “robot” through a GOBHI grant. It’s one of 3 in the county. One lives here, a second lives in the Wallowa Valley Center for Wellness, and a third lives in Wallowa Memorial Hospital.

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Blue Zones

by Kenneth Rose

Wallowa Memorial Hospital has been focusing on the health and wellness of our community over the past few years in part by providing the Complete Health Improvement Program (CHIP), and now by focusing on helping our community become a “Blue Zone.” Dan Buettner is a world renowned explorer and author who has written several books on the “Blue Zones,” the focus in a National Geographic article that described the five Blue Zones around the world where there are more people who are living active lives well into their 100s.

Buettner subsequently has done a lot of research into what were some commonalities between the lifestyle habits of these five Blue Zones. He found nine common habits or practices called the “Power Nine,” which include moving naturally, having a purpose, eating a plant-slant diet and having strong social ties.

In his most recent book, “Blue Zone Solutions,” he shares how they have incorporated the nine practices into communities across the United States in order to help people live longer and healthier lives.

“It’s not just how long we live, it’s also how well we live,” Buettner writes. “People in the Blue Zones cultures not only live longer lives, they often live better lives, with health, meaning and love — dying young as old as possible.”

Buettner emphasizes that the majority of those living over 100 years in these Blue Zones are not trying to do so, they just do it because their cultures are such that “the healthy choice is the easy choice. … The path to a long, healthy life comes from creating an environment around yourself, your family and your community that nudges you into following the right behaviors subtly and relentlessly …”

If Americans could follow the examples of the people in the Blue Zones they could lose an average of 20 pounds, cut their rates of heart disease in half and suffer about a fifth the rate of diabetes and certain cancers. With those kinds of health benefits, who wouldn’t want to live in that kind of environment?

On Feb. 9 a team from the Oregon Blue Zones Project shared a presentation at Cloverleaf Hall in Enterprise.

To become a Blue Zone, a community must involve individuals, city departments, businesses, grocery stores and restaurants in pledging to make changes to what we eat, how we exercise and relate to one another. A Blue Zone community requires a pledge and action from 20 percent of citizens, 50 percent of top 20 employers, 25 percent of independent restaurants, 25 percent of public schools and 25 percent of grocery stores. The pledge includes a checklist of lifestyle changes, community and business projects, as well as menu and product changes to promote healthier lifestyles.

As health care practitioners, we are excited to take part in continuing to help our community make healthy choices for a longer and healthier life. This is an exciting opportunity for our community and we are hoping that individuals, businesses and schools will join the movement. We encourage you to go to the Blue Zone website (www.bluezonesproject.com) and learn more about how each of us can get involved.

Kenneth D. Rose, MD, is a general surgeon at Mountain View Medical Group in Enterprise. Dr. Emily Sheahan, MD is Family Medicine/Obstetrics specialist at Mountain View Medical Group.

Seeking New Doctor

Have you ever wanted to practice in a clinic at the end of the road?  Set at the foot of the Wallowa Mountains, surrounded by 2.3 million acres of National Forest, Winding Waters is a trail-blazing organization that is recognized at state and national levels as a leader in health care transformation. Winding Waters is looking for an energetic, community-oriented, fun-loving clinician to join our team.  If you or anyone you know might be interested, please contact us at 541-426-4502.

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