New ARNP In The Burg

WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg Clinic's new Ad- vanced Registered Nurse Practitioner Kortney Killgore- Smith brings emergency room experience to the Columbia County Health System and is ready to take on new family practice patients.

Even though she is new to the health system, she's not new to the Waitsburg Clinic. Killgore-Smith spent 30 days working with Advanced Reg- istered Nurse Practitioner Dawn Meicher to learn the ropes of family practice.

Meicher had months ago asked the health system to find another care provider for the Waitsburg Clinic.

"I'm pretty full and I'm no spring chicken," she said with a laugh.

Meicher said she was wear- ing out and when the board OK'd a new hire, she knew just who to call. She remem- bered Killgore-Smith who really stood out to Meicher because she cared about the patients and took ownership of the clinic and her work.

"She's just a perfect ad- dition to our team," Meicher said.

Killgore-Smith is from the small town of White Bird, Idaho, and last spring she obtained her master's of Science in Nursing from Idaho State University. She is a board cer- tified family nurse practitio- ner. At the time of her gradua- tion, she was employed at the Tri-State Memorial Hospital Emergency Department and Clarkston Emergency Physi- cians in Clarkston.

When she got the call from Meicher about the job opening in Waitsburg, Killgore- Smith didn't hesitate.

"Dawn was really impres- sive to me," she said. "She does a good job here and I'd like to do the same. It's my dream job."

Killgore-Smith said she wanted to work for the health system because the facilities are up-to-date with new tech- nology while still serving a rural community like the one she grew up in.

She will work in the Waits- burg Clinic Wednesdays and Thursdays and will spend the rest of her time in the newly remodeled emergency room in Dayton. She will also be on the call rotation and her schedule will be flexible, so if patients need to see her on a Tuesday, they can. She will still be working in Clarkston a couple of days a month.

"I'm flexible," she said.

Working in the emergency room has become a passion for her because of her older sister, Kim Johnson, who has been an ER nurse for 20 years.

She said she likes working in the fast-paced environment because she's never bored and she likes helping people when they are most in need with their health care decisions.

"You have to know a little bit of everything," she added.

She's excited to be work- ing in the Dayton emergency room because in bigger cities those patients are fixed up and out the door and provid- ers rarely see them again, she said. They go see their family doctor for any follow up. But, in the Touchet Valley, it's a small community and she'll be able to follow up with them and learn how they are doing.

Before Killgore-Smith even knew about an opening at the clinic, she had already moved to the Waitsburg area. In early May, she married Greg Smith, who works for his family's wheat farm about 5 miles outside of Waitsburg. Together, they ride horses and snowmobile and spend as much time outdoors as they can.

"I don't come in until it's dark," she said.

Killgore-Smith hopes to see new faces at the clinic soon as she makes the health system her new home.

"I'm very excited to be here," she said. "I'm thrilled to live in Waitsburg."