Retirement begins for Callie Moore after 26 years with Adams County Health Department

Callie Moore has served the community at the Adams County Health Department for 26 years and will retire from her position as Nursing Director at the end of the year.

Susan Hoff, the nursing director at the time, asked Moore to assist on certain days where the office needed additional nursing staff during clinic hours.

After six years assisting in the clinic, Moore was offered a part time position helping with the newly implemented HIV and AIDS program in 1989. This program was designed to help educate people about these diseases.

She also began work for numerous other projects, such as the food and nutrition program for Woman, Infants, and Children (WIC), Children with Special Healthcare Needs (CSHCN), Access to Baby and Child Dentistry (ABCD) and Public Health Emergency Preparedness.

While the programs she has participated in have come and gone, mostly due to funding issues, the children with special needs portion has remained close to her heart.

Through this program she assisted families with children who needed additional help by making house calls and developing a relationship with each family. She stated she will truly miss these families when she retires.

In her time at the Health Department she has seen the development and trials of the Public Health Emergency Preparedness in the Adams County area.

The Health Department have tested their ability to provide mass vaccinations in the area and even tested a “Drive Thru” clinic.

They have had to put this to use in different ways in recent years. The first occured when the H1N1 virus caused an extreme panic to the public in 2009.

They vaccinated over 500 students in one day in the Lind-Ritzville School District. They also ensured residents were educated in regards to prevention and treatment about this specific strain of the flu.

Additionally they used their plan when the Ebola Virus became worldwide news. In Adams County, the department focused on educating the public and testing resources in the area.

They made sure they had the capability to have personal protective gear for all the nurses and doctors. They additionally researched whether the area hospitals could receive or assist in transporting patients should the need arise.

Moore has worked in what she describes as, “every nursing job available.” She worked as a school nurse, in home health care, as a nurse in the hospital and additionally worked for the care center.

She said nursing is an amazing career that provides many opportunities. Although, she almost did not make it through the schooling needed herself.

When she was little, she never thought of being anything other than a nurse. When it came time to attend college, she wanted a true college experience and not just the nurse training classes. She attended the Intercollegiate Nursing Center where she was able to spend two years at Eastern Washington University until she had to do the final two years combined with the other schools in the program.

In her last year she struggled to find the motivation to finish. She said in this time her father and her husband really gave her the push she needed.

She remembers her father saying, “You are so close you have to finish what you’ve started.”

She said this encouragement and support is what helped her get to where she is today.

What she has loved most about working for the Health Department is how interesting the job is, “It’s never the same day to day. It is a challenge and it has been a really nice fit for me,” Moore said.

Over her years as Nursing Director she said she has had the pleasure of working with some amazing nurses. They have had a mutual goal of teaching prevention so people do not end up in the hospital.

“The people we have the opportunity to serve are wonderful. This job has been unbelievably rewarding,” Moore added. “I am so proud of the nursing staff. They are passionate about what they do and they have a desire to serve the public.”

She knows the department will be in good hands with Karen Potts who will become the Nursing Director after Moore takes her leave.

She stated Potts has, “a strong work ethic and she sees her continuing to do all the good things they have been working on.”

Over her years working with the county, she has numerous moments where she can say she has been proud of her work.

Moore explained Adams County has the highest vaccination rate in the state with 70 percent. Moore said the department has made huge gains in making sure the public is informed and more recently, they have developed their Community Health Improvement Plan.

The department has spent two years working on this plan and has followed their timeline to conduct a survey throughout the county, which took place in April 2014.

This will be an ongoing project but the steps they have made towards the goals for the community have been huge, Moore stated.

In retirement, Moore plans to spend more time with her grandchildren and, “do all the boring stuff; reorganize my closet, organize my photos, get the yard cleaned up and fix all the things I have been wanting to get to now that I will have time.”

She also plans on spending more time at her lake house and doing volunteer activities. Moore would love to become involved with the Red Cross as a part of their medical response care team.

Another activity she has planned is learning the guitar. She said she has been planning on doing this for a long time and will no longer have an excuse not to.

Moore said her time as a nurse has, “truly been a gift from God. I had this desire and it turned out to be exactly what I was meant to do. I learned so much about nursing and about life.”