Kathleen Ellyn/ChieftainHospital Director Larry Davy

Larry Davy, CEO of Wallowa County Health District and Wallowa Memorial Hospital has been CEO twice – first from 2001-07 and again when he returned to Wallowa County in 2014.

How has your background in nursing helped you as CEO of the Wallowa Health Care District?

Being an RN is a huge advantage to being a CEO. Mixing that with an MBA from Regis University, you get both sides of the job. I’m not sure I’d want to try to be a CEO without that background. It’s fun being CEO of the hospital where you started out on nightshift as a nurse.

My first nursing supervisor at Wallowa Memorial Hospital, in 1999, was Jo Ruonavaara RN, who was the Director of Nursing and an outstanding example of commitment to excellence in serving the local community. I have been blessed by outstanding, mission driven “supervisors” and mentors throughout my service in health care, who have set a very high bar to aim at.

You left Wallowa County for a higher paying job with Adventist Health as CEO at Tillamook Regional Medical Center. Why move back to Wallowa County?

It was very difficult to leave Wallowa and the community and friends we had in 2007, especially after the new hospital had just opened. However, a number of events made it clear that we were being led to return to Adventist Health (Tillamook) for a time. We had a great time working again for Adventist Health in Tillamook and were able to reestablish old relationships and develop new ones. There are many pros and cons working in a system hospital versus stand-alone hospital. It was a very beneficial experience to lead a larger hospital and to experience the nuances of life in a corporate system. Hopefully our experiences at each stage of our careers bring an enhanced skill set to the next.

We’re seeing some radical changes in health insurance coverage along with some ambitious goals as to how Oregon hospitals will serve the public. What are your concerns about the industry in Oregon (and how that effects WMH) right now?

Health care is going through massive changes at the national, State of Oregon and local levels. The need to improve access, reduce costs and improve quality, with the threat of lower reimbursement is a monumental task.

Rural hospitals are especially threatened, and are in need of regulation and statute changes in order to better meet the needs of their communities for the long-term.

In addition, rapid change is difficult for most people, including those serving in healthcare. There is a palpable fatigue in healthcare that is very concerning related to the constant change and increasing demands. It is vital that we reinvent systems and the way we do the work of healthcare to better serve our communities, while at the same time reducing the fatigue factor of those providing services. Even with the myriad of challenges facing us, I still believe that Wallowa Memorial Hospital’s finest hour is still ahead of us because of the commitment to excellence of our staff and physicians, and the vital support of the community.