Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
July 13, 2015
Lunch: fried chicken, spaghetti with meatballs, macaroni salad,
scalloped potatoes, garlic bread and salad bar.
This was Jay Bahner’s first meeting as President of Rotary. Before the
meeting started, he asked everyone to step outside and greet the new “cartel,”
which was composed of all the people who sat at what was formerly known as “The
old folks’ table.” They filed in
accompanied by applause. Apparently they
have a vote, and can give thumbs up or thumbs down to things yet
unspecified.
After everybody re-seated themselves they all stood up as Jim Howard
led us in the pledge of allegiance. Bill
McAuley gave the invocation.
Among the visiting Rotarians was District Governor Erin Dunn. She proceeded to the podium along with Jay’s
wife Vonnel. Mrs. Bahner was awarded her Paul Harris Fellowship to a standing
“o”. Jay then cued Carlton to play a very
touching 4 minute Japanese Insurance commercial (It had sub-titles) followed by
a video from a news story by News Channel 3’s Brad Curtis.
Carly Robbins was recognized for her efforts as the story detailed how
she and fellow Lost Coast Interact members raised over $30,000 for Betty Chinn’s
Homeless Center.
Then Jay said we were going to get to know our own club members and
what they do. He asked Dan Heinen to
give the first Business focused craft talk.
Dan is the Operations Manager of Express Employment Professionals and a
scuba Diver. He has a dive shop in
Fairhaven. Jay gave Dan a Happy Camper
Mug at the conclusion of his talk. Dan
was overwhelmed and mugged for the camera.
President Jay reminded us of the Barbeque and potluck at his place 3pm
Saturday July 18th. The whole
family is invited, so bring your brats whether they be children or
sausages. Then it was time for the
drawing.
This year’s Spengler Howard raffle involves 3 prizes. Jason Eads won a coin with the four-way test
on it. Hank Ingham won $10, a more
deserving fellow you’ll never find. Sue Bosch drew for the $130 pot. She pulled the 8 of spades.
Jay Bahner then introduced our speaker- OPEN DOORS CLINIC CEO, Herman Spetzler – In 1977 he and his wife thought Eureka would be
a good place to spend a few years. He knew he was joining an organization
scraping for every dollar and pinching every penny, but the committed people
who began Open Door Clinic in 1971 were convincing: there wasn't enough access
to health care on the north coast and he could do something to change that. Today they are the largest healthcare
provider in Humboldt County. They served
75,000 patients last year. They have
expanded dramatically with 560 employees.
Their biggest challenge is to attract health care professionals to their
organization. New doctors just out of
school often are saddled with $300,000 in student loans. They are not looking to open a practice
because that is too risky. They want the
Kaiser Healthcare model. Their staff is
divided into “pods” of 10 people, a physician, nutritionist, and support
staff. They are working on a “Portal” so
that patients can use the internet and not have to come into the office for
routine issues. Spetzler is looking to
taper into retirement. He would like to
see a community resume exchange so that the partners of new physicians can find
employment. Open Door will even pay as
much as $10,000 to relocate grandparents to Eureka for their employees so that
childcare will be available.
The meeting ended with a
lei presented to Jay by Carlton, substituting for Gregg Gardiner who was “stuck
in Hawaii “ and missed the meeting.
Submitted by $10 winner
Hank Ingham
