Two new nurse practitioners are coming to Hermiston. Rivercrest Behavioral Health & Wellness is adding Carrie McCartney and Alexis Grimm to its Hermiston location. This comes at a time when demand has grown for mental health professionals, according to Heather Bacon, Rivercrest founder.

McCartney and Grimm join a team which includes Bacon and Jennifer Cooper, also is a licensed clinical psychologist. Bacon said McCartney and Grimm are two expert professionals, whose skills and backgrounds complement one another and the rest of the Rivercrest team.

McCartney was in family medicine, before returning to school to obtain a psychiatric nurse practitioner license. She has experience in inpatient and outpatient care. Grimm, a recent Vanderbilt University graduate, has outpatient experience.

“I really like the combination of their skill sets,” Bacon said. McCartney treats primarily adults for medication management. Grimm is experienced with childhood problems, specifically attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, as well as depression and anxiety.

Bacon and Cooper are psychologists and cannot prescribe medication. The new nurse practitioners, however, can make prescriptions. Bacon and Cooper will continue to counseling and assessing patients, and they will send them to the nurses for medication.

Grimm also has experience in therapy, so she may help with that.

Bacon likes the “personality fit” with the two nurses, as a big part of mental health is building rapport and therapeutic bonds. She felt an immediate connection to McCartney and Grimm, so she said said she believes the community will feel likewise.

These newcomers were hired from a surprisingly large pool of applicants, Bacon said. Ultimately, she interviewed six people who were all interested in rural care. She concluded people are trying to escape cities and they wanted to move to Hermiston. This represents a shift, she said. In her nine years of private practice, she encountered many more people who favored cities.

Having more medical professionals, particularly mental health providers, in Hermiston is terrific, Bacon said. So many people are seeking help, a lot of them are being turned away or have been redirected to faraway cities and virtual services. There are just not enough local providers and nurses to help all the people in need.

Rivercrest is turning away an average of six referrals per day.

“We’re sending them to Pendleton, but Pendleton is sending them to us,” Bacon said. Patients are being placed on waiting lists, and this is not good. Some people, particularly suicidal individuals, cannot wait.

Even when she is able to connect patients virtually with providers in Portland, problems remain. Bacon has found many people in the community do not like virtual services that connect patients with professionals through the internet. There are privacy and connectivity issues with virtual services.

“So, a lot of people did not receive care last year, during a pivotal time,” Bacon said. Mental needs are increasing, partially because of COVID-19, but also the “political culture” of our day.

McCartney will start in October. Grimm, who is transitioning from Texas, will begin after she achieves Oregon approval. This should be in December, Bacon said.

Rivercrest is looking to hire a new medical assistant and a clinical psychologist. Even with the new additions, our community is still underserved, she said. She hopes to grow even further.