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NewSun Energy & Harney District Hospital Specialty Care Clinic will open in the Racine Building. 

Harney District Hospital (HDH) is excited to announce that it will be opening a new specialty care clinic in the Racine Building.

Located at 271 N. Egan Ave. in Burns, NewSun Energy & Harney District Hospital Specialty Care Clinic is conveniently located across the street from the hospital’s ambulance bay. The new clinic was made possible, in part, by a generous donation from NewSun Energy LLC to Harney Hospital Foundation.

The specialty care clinic will offer general surgery and Mohs dermatology procedures as well as orthopedic, oncology, cardiology, and nutrition counseling services. The new clinic will also provide space for additional specialty services to be added in the future.

Mohs dermatology will be provided by Dr. Oliver Wisco. As a dermatologist, Dr. Wisco provides comprehensive skin care for patients of all ages. He has advanced training in Mohs surgery (a procedure used to remove skin cancer in a specialized way that minimizes the amount of tissue removed and decreases scarring) and in caring for patients with melanoma. While he is a skin cancer specialist, he also takes care of patients with the full spectrum of dermatologic conditions.

HDH’s advanced nurse practitioner, Brad Mangum, will provide comprehensive orthopedic care at the clinic. Drs. Anthony Hinz, Timothy Bollom, James Verheyden, and David Brown — highly qualified and experienced providers from The Center Orthopedics in Bend — will provide orthopedics at NewSun Energy & Harney District Hospital Specialty Care Clinic on a visiting basis. The orthopedics team specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles, and nerves.

Oncology will be provided on a visiting basis by Dr. Joshua Gulvin of The Center and Drs. Brian Erickson, Christina Fitzmaurice, Richard Reed, Coralia Calomeni, Todd Clover, and William Martin of St. Charles Health System in Bend.

Dr. Daniel Sedehi, who specializes in cardiology, and dietitian Sarah Frost will also be making the trip from St. Charles to provide specialty care at the clinic.

NewSun Energy & Harney District Hospital Specialty Care will also house the surgery clinic. Patients of Drs. John Nguyen and Harry Reynolds, HDH’s general surgeons, will have their consultation and follow-up appointments at the new clinic.

HDH aims to offer additional specialty care services in the future.

“We have made a concerted effort to invite more visiting specialists into our community,” HDH Chief Executive Officer Dan Grigg said. “Having a dedicated space will make our efforts to attract new specialists more successful.”

Grigg added that, “Being able to provide that care locally, not only saves our patients time and money, but it is safer for them to not have to make the long trip back and forth to Bend — especially during inclement weather.”

“We are so grateful for the generous donation by Jake Stephens of NewSun Energy,” Grigg said. “His support was vital to our ability to make this endeavor successful. It’s also a demonstration of his commitment to our community and the health and well-being of our residents.”

NewSun Energy made the donation after being approached by Harney Hospital Foundation Executive Director Elisha Miller and Harney County Health District Board Chair Sharon Davis.

“Harney Hospital Foundation has been very excited to see the upgrades and additions made to The Racine building,” Miller said. “The generous donation from Jake and NewSun Energy has helped the foundation continue its mission to help advance healthcare in Harney County by purchasing needed equipment and making facility upgrades.”

NewSun Energy was founded by Jake Stephens in 2015. NewSun’s solar facilities were the first ever to connect directly to the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) transmission system, and they were the first major solar generators ever built in Harney County. BPA’s engineers and project managers worked closely with NewSun for several years to bring these facilities on line.

NewSun Energy developed two solar facilities in Harney County (along Highway 20) and two in northern Lake County. Development and investment for these solar projects began in 2015. Construction started in 2020 and provided more than 650,000 hours of high-paying labor (averaging over $30 per hour) as well as numerous subcontracts for Harney County businesses. Additionally, the facilities will pay $280,000 in annual property taxes in Harney County for the next 20 years.

“NewSun believes in reinvesting in the communities and regions where it does business,” Stephens said. “The best part of developing these solar projects was getting to meet so many wonderful people these past five years and developing relationships that I hope will last a lifetime.”

He added, “We knew immediately that we wanted to support the specialty clinic, given the vital, and perhaps life-saving, impacts it would have for the residents of Harney County and surrounding areas.”

Stephens noted that residents of these frontier communities might delay care if they have to travel several hours. The new clinic will bring care closer to home, making it much more accessible.

The clinic’s hours will be Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Although the official opening date has yet to be determined, a grand opening celebration is tentatively planned for spring 2021. Please stay tuned for additional information.