staffing changes

Community HealthCare System invites the public to attend retirement receptions for lead nurses from Onaga Clinic and Centralia Clinic.

From coordinating staffing and ordering supplies to attending meetings – all while caring for patients – clinic lead nurses take on many responsibilities to ensure that Community HealthCare System provides quality care. They keep things running smoothly, and they exhibit grace under pressure.

CHCS is proud to recognize two new lead nurses and one change in location. These changes come on the heels of retirement announcements from longtime Onaga Clinic and Centralia Clinic...

Peggy Buessing, LPN and lead nurse at the Centralia Clinic, has announced that she will retire on June 30.

Buessing has worked for Community HealthCare System for 30 years. After joining CHCS in 1991, she worked part-time at the Centralia Clinic while filling in at other clinics when needed, plus she cared for patients at Onaga Hospital one weekend a month. As the Centralia Clinic grew, Buessing transitioned to working full-time there.

“One of the nice...

Pat Flentie, LPN and lead nurse at the Onaga Clinic, has announced that she will retire effective June 30. Flentie has worked at Community HealthCare System for more than 45 years. When she started working at Onaga Hospital on July 1, 1974, she knew instantly it was where she wanted to be.

Flentie looks back on many changes during her tenure at CHCS. When she first started, nurses worked 8-hour shifts 5 days a week and every other weekend and were paid once a month....

Community HealthCare System is pleased to announce that Tracy Ahlquist of rural Onaga has joined its Board of Directors.

Ahlquist retired from Jeffrey Energy Center in 2018 after a 37-year career in maintenance and control of plant electrical equipment. He recently returned to the plant as a temporary contract employee for a special project.

Ahlquist brings diverse skills and a commitment to community service to the board.

“I spent the first...

Dr. Tom Walsh, who moved back to Onaga in 1975 to practice medicine with his father, has announced that he plans to retire by the end of 2021.

“This is my hometown. I love the people here. I have enjoyed practicing here all these years, and it has been a blessing for myself and my family,” Dr. Walsh said.

Dr. Walsh was newly married to Marcia Walsh when he came back to Onaga, and they carried all of their possession in the back of a borrowed pickup truck. They raised...

The new administrator of St. Marys Manor didn’t need a full tour on her first day. Shannon Heim, who started in early March, already knew her way around because she is the third generation in her family to care for residents there.

Both Heim’s grandmother, Donna Tarbutton, and her mother, Kim Wild, have worked at St. Marys Manor. Tarbutton began working for the Manor in 1966 as a charge nurse, then became Director of Nursing and served as co-administrator....

Claire Blumer, physician assistant, will join the Community HealthCare System Centralia Clinic in early April. Blumer will see patients Wednesday through Friday each week and is eager to develop personal relationships with her patients.

“No two days are the same in family practice, and I appreciate the variety of ages and medical cases that come with this field,” Blumer said.

She particularly appreciates rural medical practice.

“I...

Andy Barnes, APRN, will be joining Community HealthCare System full-time in February 2021. Barnes previously worked on an as-needed basis and provided care in the Emergency Department and family practice clinics at CHCS for two and a half years and continues with Stormont Vail Emergency Room, where he has been for more than 15 years. In his new role at CHCS, Barnes will work three days a week in Centralia Clinic and Onaga Clinic, plus continue to be on call one weekend per month.

“We...