Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center

The Idaho Cancer Center at EIRMC received a visit from a very special lady. Agnes Angel Judge, a breast cancer survivor from South Carolina is traveling the country, visiting cancer centers in all 50 states to empower survivors and those on the front lines with her story of survival. During Agnes's visit, she made a generous donation to help cancer patients with transportation costs, lodging and expenses. We are incredibly grateful that she chose the Idaho Cancer Center at EIRMC as her cancer center stop in Idaho and we wish Agnes all the best as she continues her journey. #breastcancerawarness #nobodyfightsalone

Welcome EIRMC’s new Controller, Nicole, to the team. She is an accomplished financial leader with excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with a demonstrated ability to oversee the internal accounting controls of an organization. Nicole holds both a Bachelors and Masters degree in accounting, and is preparing to sit for the CPA exam. For the last five years Nicole has been a member of the Board of Directors for Frontier Credit Union and currently serves as the Vice Chair. Nicole and her husband James have two children together. Outside of her daily work, she enjoys camping, hunting and exploring new places with her family. They have traveled throughout more than half of United States and most recently took a trip of a lifetime to South Africa.

Matt Berry has climbed mountains around the world. But while standing on seemingly solid ground in the Grand Tetons, Matt slipped, plunging 600 feet down a granite bed. He bounced on rock and ice and landed on a ledge just 15 feet shy of a 2,500 foot cliff. His extensive injuries included a de-gloved arm; a 3-inch-wide hole in his left leg; an exposed, broken left hip; bones sticking out of his ankle; and significant internal bleeding. After a dramatic helicopter rescue, Matt was rushed into surgery at EIRMC. He spent just one week in the hospital and then one week in Acute Inpatient Rehab. On the first day of rehab, Matt could not walk down two steps. By Day 6, he walked down six flights of stairs and back up, and then turned around and went back down again! Matt is now back to doing the things he most enjoys, including mountain climbing.

Ann is one of our awesome volunteers who is celebrating an amazing 30 years of volunteer service at EIRMC. Ann serves in our Surgical Guest Lounge and has volunteered over 8,000 hours. We are fortunate to have such a dedicated and service oriented volunteer like Ann serving our patients, visitors and staff. Please help us congratulate Ann on this incredible milestone of service!

Matt Berry has climbed mountains around the world. But while standing on seemingly solid ground in the Grand Tetons, Matt slipped, plunging 600 feet down a granite bed. He bounced on rock and ice and landed on a ledge just 15 feet shy of a 2,500 foot cliff. His extensive injuries included a de-gloved arm; a 3-inch-wide hole in his left leg; an exposed, broken left hip; bones sticking out of his ankle; and significant internal bleeding. After a dramatic helicopter rescue, Matt was rushed into surgery at EIRMC. He spent just one week in the hospital and then one week in Acute Inpatient Rehab. On the first day of rehab, Matt could not walk down two steps. By Day 6, he walked down six flights of stairs and back up, and then turned around and went back down again! Matt is now back to doing the things he most enjoys, including mountain climbing.

We are so excited for Aysia Lopez, part-time psychiatric technician at the Behavioral Health Center. She was recently awarded EIRMC’s Caregivers of Tomorrow scholarship for her to pursue a nursing degree from Idaho State University Nursing Program. She said, “I feel incredibly blessed to have been chosen for this opportunity. You have no idea how much this means to me and how much this will support me through the remainder of nursing school. I hope to make you all very proud!” We are so excited for Aysia’s accomplishment; you’ve already made us proud!

Congrats to the incredible Jessica Lewis, recently promoted to Laboratory Manager. Jessica started her career at EIRMC in 2015 in the Microbiology department where she was trained by some of the best microbiologists in the area. Jessica has served as the Microbiology Coordinator for several years, and been an active participant on the Antimicrobial Stewardship Team and the Infection Prevention Committee. She has such a positive attitude and ability to find the humor in most situations! Excited for this wonderful new opportunity!

Congrats to Shawna Dale from Medical Imaging. She is our Sunshine Award honoree, nominated by a colleague. Here’s why we love Shawna! “Shawna treats every single patient with so much patience and kindness. She makes sure that they never feel rushed, and always valued! She has a smile and joke ready for every patient, will sit and talk with them if they're nervous about a scan, and she takes so many extra efforts to help them out, or to make a connection that leaves them smiling. She follows through on her promise to patients when chasing calls, whether it be to a doctor, other medical facility, and follows up with the patient in less than 24 hours. Shawna truly cares about each and every patient, and does everything she can to make sure they leave better than when they came in. I think she is more than deserving of the Sunshine Award, because she IS a ray of sunshine every day.”

Congrats to awesome Wendy McClain, our VP of Operations. She has accepted a promotion to become the next Chief Operating Officer at Medical City Arlington in Texas. The VP of Operations position is as a career stepping stone in the HCA Executive Leadership Program. Wendy’s experiences at EIRMC has positioned her for this incredible new opportunity. Wendy has led us through $40 million in capital projects, including the OR expansion; creation of classroom spaces throughout our facility; the helipad expansion; and PET/CT. Wendy also oversees many departments, including Lab, Pharmacy, Therapies, RT, Food & Nutrition, EVS, Engineering and Emergency Preparedness/ Security. We are so excited for Wendy’s amazing opportunity! #WeShowUp

Congratulations to Tracy, RN on the 3rd Floor. She is our latest DAISY Award honoree for exceptional nursing. Her nomination was beautifully written by the spouse of a patient: “Tracy was my angel that kindly helped me (the wife of her patient) through a PTSD panic attack. She professionally took matters in hand and calmed me, listened to my fears, reassured me there was no need to fill embarrassment and comforted me with the promises she would help me through my panic attack. Tracy scheduled a time to take me to the 6th floor rehab to practice a walk through the area before my husband was transported up there. She talked me through the process and it was a struggle inside yet when I made the trip with my husband, I did it without falling apart. She was a lifesaver to me. If you've never experienced a full-blown panic attack- it's terrifying! Your heart feels like it's going to burst out of your chest. You struggle to breathe and talking is difficult. I have asthma and it's like the worst asthma attack you have ever had and there's no inhaler or breathing aide. I had a heroine- Tracy. My husband went home, had a relapse and we're back. The first day he was being seen by a team of doctors when I arrived to his room. I waited outside as it was filled with the Medical team. Tracy saw me waiting in the hallway and graciously introduced me to the doctors on they exited his room. Knowing I’m shy, Tracy asked the doctors to give me an update on my husband’s condition. Tracy is an angel placed in my path but seeing her skills I'd love for her to be recognized for the Daisy award. Tracy is an exceptional medical facilitator, using quick thinking skills and utilizes excellent judgment and recognizing problems others are encountering. Through sincerity Tracy acts upon a solution. With all my gratitude!”