Phillips County Hospital welcomes fourth provider

For the first time in a long time, Phillips County Hospital in Malta has a fourth health care provider as Shane Jenson joins the staff and PCH CEO Ward VanWichen is excited about the scenario.

"Phillips County Hospital has been that way for a long time so a fourth one is new," he said. "We are excited about what that can mean to access to care, different types of care and quality care so I think it is going to be a good thing."

Phillips County also has the good fortune of adding Jenson's wife, Karyn, to the staff at the PCH as she was recently named Director of Nursing for Clinical Services at the Phillips County Family Heath Clinic.

"It is fantastic," said VanWichen. "When she came here we knew she was a nurse and we can always use nurses at the Phillips County Hospital. We told her in conversations that we are not sure where you are going to land but we are going to figure it out. I think it was perfect for them, perfect for us and I think ultimately it worked out great for our community."

Shane and Karyn, who have been married for eight years, come to Phillips Count via Prescott, Ariz., where the two ran a private practice for the last six years. Shane is originally from Grand Forks, N.D., and completed his graduate studies at Western College in Pomona, Calif. He said that he and Karyn decided that they wanted to be closer to family and added that they missed living in a small town when he found out about Phillips County.

"Prescott was getting a little too big for me and I was starting to miss the small town and the friendliness and straightforwardness you find in smaller places," Shane added.

The couple moved to Malta in the beginning of May - though Shane had to return to Prescott to wrap up some loose ends - and Shane's first week at the PCH started last Monday.

"I love it here," he said. "I love our little stores and the Midwestern friendliness," he said. "We are loving the restaurants and we went and watched a movie at the movie theater and that was very cool."

Shane's official title at the PCH is Family Nurse Practitioner, which he has been for the past nine years, and before that he was a registered nurse for the previous 23 years.

"I felt that I could help people more by doing that," Shane said of the switch. "As a nurse, you are sort of always taking direction from providers and I have always been kind of a go getter and I just felt like I could do more for people while making my own decisions."

Shane said that he stumbled upon health care almost by accident. In 1990-91, Shane started as an orderly at a nursing home. He would continue work at the home for six years (the first four as a CNA.)

I had never thought I would do anything like that," he said. "I have more of a business mind and I always thought I would be a lawyer or an engineer. Healthcare was not on the radar back then."

During his medical career, Shane has also worked in jails and prisons, worked in different specialties (including Asthma and Intracrinology.)

"Working where I worked, I came to love the people and decided, 'Okay, if I am going to enjoy this, I am going to make a profession out it'. Just hanging out in a nursing home at the age of 16 or 17 with elderly people changed my life."

Shane said that he looks forward to new challenges and PCH and said he hopes to help the other staff make the facility the best it can be.

"I come from running my own practice in Arizona and I think I have a very customer oriented attitude towards health care," he said. "I hope I can do the same thing here and I know Karyn will do the same thing in the clinic.

"I always like the quote; 'be the change that you wish to be in the world'," Karyn said. "That is how I plan on approaching the new job."

Karyn said that she is also enjoying her new home of Malta and the people of Phillips County.

"The people here are very easy to fall in love with," she said.

Karyn is originally from Denver, Colo., and graduated nursing school in 2014. She said Shane encouraged her to apply for work as a nurse at a prison (which he had done in his career) and she took the advice.

"I told her 'you need to do this, you'll get the best experience of your life' and she did," Shane said.

"I did and I loved it," Karyn said. "That was my first job out of nursing school. I had always wanted to become a nurse and my long-term goal is to become an FNP as well."

Karyn said that she is thrilled that she and Shane get to continue to work together.

"He is my absolute best friend in the world," she said. "I am so happy that we can continue to work together because I think we are a pretty good team."