OAHHS Hospital Voice Fall/Winter 2019

23 Fall/Winter 2019 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS 2019 Jim Mattes Jim Mattes completed a 35-year career at Grande Ronde Hospital in 2018. Hired as the administrator at the age of 32 in 1983, Mattes was President and Chief Executive Officer when he retired last year. During Mattes’ tenure, Grande Ronde Hospital (GRH) has become an integrated hospital system operating a critical access hospital, a home health and hospice care agency, and 13 primary and specialty care clinics. GRH serves not only the 25,000 residents of Union County, but also providing specialty and secondary care for a large portion of eastern Oregon. Mattes has led the effort to ensure that the population of La Grande and the surrounding region has access to high quality health care. “No one should sacrifice good, affordable health care just because they choose to live in a beautiful rural region as we do.” Mattes has been a champion for innovation in rural health care, creating an award-winning telemedicine program that expands the reach of services. Under Mattes’ leadership, GRH has also become a major economic engine in the area. In 1985, the hospital employed 291 people. Today, GRH is the county’s largest private employer, providing 730 people with good paying jobs that provide benefits and security. Mattes also placed a high priority on giving back to the community GRH serves, and in working hard to create a solid financial foundation for the hospital to make sure GRH is not forced to merge with a larger system. Mattes was a long serving member of the OAHHS Board of Directors, including serving as board chair. Roy Vinyard Roy Vinyard was named President and Chief Executive Officer at Asante Health Systems in 1999. He led Asante through a period of significant growth and achievement. A native of St. Louis, he attended the St. Louis College of Pharmacy before earning a master’s in health administration from Washington University in St. Louis. Before coming to Asante, Vinyard had been a top administrator at health systems in Iowa and Kansas as well as at Oregon Health Sciences University. Vinyard worked hard to secure a solid financial footing for Asante. In 2000, he led Asante to its best-ever financial performance. During his tenure, Asante built an 80,000 square foot outpatient center in Grants Pass and created a telemedicine system that connected 270 physicians in Jackson and Josephine counties. Under Vinyard’s leadership, Asante received numerous local and national recognitions for high quality care. Asante received a five-star rating from CMS and was named a top 15 health system in the nation six years in a row. Vinyard helped develop Asante’s mission statement: “Asante will be recognized for medical excellence, outstanding customer, and as a great place to work.” Asante has been named one of the Top 100 best companies to work for by Oregon Business Magazine three years in a row. Vinyard’s colleagues describe a leader who does not seek the limelight and always puts Asante’s interests first. In his retirement announcement a year ago, he wrote, “Reflecting on our successes and achievements over my nearly 20 years at Asante, I am proud of what we have accomplished together.”