New CEO at La Pine health center

Published 4:00 am Monday, December 12, 2011

Charla McKenzie DeHate is the new CEO of the La Pine Community Health Center.

The La Pine Community Health Center has a new chief executive officer.

Charla McKenzie DeHate, of Prineville, was chosen to fill the spot after the former CEO, Al Gugenberger, retired.

“We’re excited to have Charla here,” Doby Fugate, chairman of the health center, said. “She has experience in managing a clinic and medical facility and is very qualified to handle the position.”

DeHate was born in Redmond, grew up in Bend and graduated from Bend High School. After graduating from the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine, she worked in Portland, Los Angeles and Vero Beach, Fla., before returning to Central Oregon 10 years ago.

For the past 24 years, DeHate has managed and directed facilities in the medical field, most recently as CEO of Mosaic Medical in Prineville.

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DeHate moved to the La Pine health center, she said, because her experience at Mosaic reaffirmed her desire to work in a medically underserved rural area.

“There is a high percentage of retired people on Medicare in this area,” DeHate said. “It takes more resources to assist these patients, and that means higher costs.”

The center, located at 51600 Huntington Road, was established in 2002 as a medical facility to provide a range of primary care services. In 2007, a board of directors was formed, Fugate said, and the center became a nonprofit in 2008. Since then, the facility has operated mainly on federal funds.

The center also serves north Lake County, Christmas Valley, Silver Lake and Lakeview.

DeHate sees continued funding as one of the major challenges of her new position.

She said the center must also continue to provide quality care to patients, and that is expensive in an area such as La Pine.

“The nearest hospital is in Bend, and on a good day, the distance there by ambulance is at least 40 minutes,” DeHate said. “Because of that distance, we have to maintain X-ray and lab equipment here on the site. That costs a lot.”

Another goal, she said, is recruiting physicians and nurse practitioners to La Pine.

One recruiting opportunity, DeHate said, is the National Health Services Corps. The federal program allows primary care providers to pay off student loans while serving in communities with limited access to health care. Another aspect of the program allows students pursuing careers in primary care to receive scholarships for serving communities in need upon graduation and completion of training.

“Confidence in the clinic went down over the past two years,” she said. “We have to work on that.”

At the beginning of December, she said, the center implemented an electronic records system that will help maintain the quality assurance required by the government and make medical records more accessible.

“The system will also allow specialists and other medical facilities instant access to patient records,” DeHate said. “This aspect will be very valuable to the snowbirds or people who are traveling.”

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