First, Next, Forever: Burns, Oregon

This is Kaitlyn Davis's Story

Kaitlyn Davis, PA-C

Kaitlyn Davis began her career in rural medicine as a paramedic in Florida. Her first position was in interfacility transportation, transferring patients from a standalone ER to facilities in the city. It involved a lot of extremely ill patients and a lot of critical thinking - and she fell in love with it. “I knew that’s where I wanted to be,” she said. After transferring over to prehospital care, she began working towards becoming a physician assistant, knowing all the while that she wanted to stay in rural communities. 

Kaitlyn worked full-time while earning her undergraduate degree from Arizona State University and then attended Pacific University, where she completed their physician assistant program. While finishing her PA degree, Kaitlyn attended a presentation given by Trixie Lacas of the Oregon Office of Rural Health, where she learned about the resources available to her regarding her job search. As a Primary Care Loan Forgiveness recipient, Kaitlyn agreed to a one-year “give back” period, meaning she would need to find a placement in a rural or underserved community following graduation. Reaching out to Trixie seemed the logical next step to aid her in her search. 

Trixie Lacas: 3RNET's Oregon Network Coordinator

Trixie Lacas loves that her position in Oregon’s Office of Rural Health allows her to be a recruiter - utilizing 3RNET to truly match candidates to roles available throughout the state. “I know a lot of our network coordinators can’t do that, or their responsibilities are more than just that. With Oregon, my position really is that of recruiter - it’s such a gift to your state to have you on the case of so many open positions.” 

Trixie’s attention to the needs of employers in her state and attentiveness to detail in recruitment laid the groundwork for Kaitlyn’s match to go smoothly. When Dr. Sarah Laiosa reached out saying ThriveWell was ready to recruit, Trixie was a little nervous. Sarah’s hope in 3RNET was high, and rightfully so, but location and community size could make the match a difficult one. Burns is a small town of 2,700 in the far southeastern corner of Oregon. Though it would be potentially challenging to find the right candidate, Trixie knew that ThriveWell had an advantage in its environment and mission in Burns. “I was so impressed with the dynamics of [Dr. Laiosa’s] small practice in the community,” she said. “So impressed with her volunteerism. And the ability to have some independence as a practitioner - sometimes when health professionals join the large health institutions (where there’s need for them as well) you lose that [independence] because you are in a larger system and reporting is different. That’s a big benefit.” 

A few weeks after Trixie helped Dr. Laiosa get ThriveWell set up as an employer on 3RNET, Kaitlyn reached out, expressing interest in the position. Trixie never would have guessed that such a quick match could occur, but she was prepared to help Kaitlyn discover if it was the right fit. “After sharing more information about the clinic, I got her connected to Sarah and six or maybe seven weeks later there was a contract. It makes me emotional to think of that kind of match.” 

Dr. Sarah Laiosa
 

Dr. Sarah Laiosa has been practicing in Burns since she graduated from residency in 2012, but rural healthcare has always been a part of her life. “I grew up in an area that is not rural anymore,” she said, “but it was when I was growing up there. I did a lot of thinking about my career in a town of 300 people that was an hour away from anything - an hour away from my hometown - so that really spawned my interest in it.” 

3RNET has been a part of her journey since the beginning, too. Though Sarah doesn’t remember applying through 3RNET, she used it as a tool in her search. She and her husband searched for positions available in areas of Oregon where there were both critical access hospitals and airports, as he is a pilot. Burns fit the bill, and their family made the frontier community halfway between Bend and Boise their home. 

Through her friendship with a colleague, Sarah became connected with the Oregon Office of Rural Health and reacquainted with 3RNET after starting ThriveWell in 2020. Fast forward five years with only enough coverage from her partner to take a couple of weeks worth of vacation a year, she felt it was time to bring in another partner. “I thought it was going to take three to five years, though. So when Kaitlyn responded, I was a little bit overwhelmed.”

But that overwhelm didn’t last long - the match turned out to be a perfect fit. 

Dr. Laiosa thought she may not have been ready to hire an employee mere weeks after listing a position she assumed would take years to fill. But after interviewing Kaitlyn, she knew she was. “I know this is the right person, and I’ll make it the right time.” she said. 

First, Next, Forever: Kaitlyn's Forever Opportunity

Kaitlyn, for her part, never thought she’d end up in Eastern Oregon, but it is there that she has found what she had been looking for: an excellent working environment in rural healthcare. 

The two women agreed that the more they spend time together, the more similarities they discover between them. ThriveWell is a close-knit group of ten employees, with three providers and seven support staff. Many of them enjoy reading, and so share book recommendations with each other on slower days in the office. The busyness changes from day to day, but they see patients from all over Harney County, an area the size of Massachusetts with a population of 7,500. In the first quarter of the year, the clinic numbered nearly 2,000 visits. 

Though Kaitlyn only needed to serve a year in a rural or underserved area according to her loan repayment contract, she envisions herself staying much longer. In fact, both she and Sarah have been in contact with Trixie recently. Kaitlyn will be applying for a second year of loan repayment through the state of Oregon, and Sarah is staying on top of ThriveWell’s site qualifications for such programs. 

All three women emphasize the important role 3RNET played in this well-matched placement. “3RNET is power.” Trixie said. To her, this match gives a glimpse of the importance of organizations coming together to recruit and retain health professionals in rural communities across the nation. From Kaitlyn’s perspective, it is always worth taking a look at 3RNET’s job site: “You never know what you’re going to find out there - places you wouldn’t have thought about might have a really great job for you.”