College team effort supports rural hospital and student success

Tonya Johnson, MPH internship coordinator; Karen Elliott, public health internship coordinator; Emily Norcross, kinesiology PTAH coordinator; and Dee Gillen, kinesiology experiential learning coordinator, partnered with OSU College of Health alumni Brandon Bates and Leigh Anne Baller of Samaritan Health Services to support North Lincoln Hospital in Lincoln City both June and December 2025.

The team worked together to coordinate College of Health students assisting in a 2-week, 24 hour continuous time observation study that resulted in increased reimbursement in the summer and an additional $300,000 reimbursement increase from Medicare for the hospital — a major win for rural healthcare. The combined summer and winter student teams included Boden Callison, Maxwell Kovalev, Aria Brown, Yashasvini Jupudi, Citlaly Calvillo, Adriel Gamez, Samuel Mosier, Kimberly Alcaraz, Caden Hooper, Gage Meagher, Dmitriy Zhukovskiy, Nash Potts and Isabella Espino Hernandez. What a great collaboration between Samaritan, College of Health, and the College of Health faculty!