At their March 17 meeting, Linn County Commissioners Roger Nyquist, Sherrie Sprenger and Will Tucker signed a letter of support for a grant application by Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU) to obtain an ODOT Connect Oregon grant to aid in the construction of a new medical school campus in Lebanon.
WesternU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Northwest (COMP-Northwest) opened in Lebanon in 2011 west of Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital and adjacent to what is now the Edward C. Allworth Veterans Home.
WesternU plans to create a 150-acre campus on property that was donated by the Heatherington Foundation. The property is east of the current campus and is bordered by Gil’s Landing and the South Santiam River.
Connect Oregon funds would be used to create a street and underpass of an existing railroad and allow access to the new campus.
In the letter of support, Commissioner Tucker noted, “This project will offer a significant influx of highly trained health care professionals through the longer-term offering of post-graduate doctoral programs, contributing to the demands of our fastest growing and largest industries in Linn County and the larger region.”
The commissioners added that private education and health services were the state’s fastest growing industries last year, with employment up 2.9%. In Linn County, private education and health services account for nearly 20% of the private, non-farm jobs.
The commissioners also pointed out the numerous community activities WesternU students take part in community-wide, donating more than 16,000 hours at community clinics, health fairs, literacy programs and donation drives.
In other business the commissioners:
- Approved a Personal Services Contract between the Linn County Sheriff’s Office and Dr. Trey Woods to provide physician advisor services for the LCSO 911 Center, the LCSO Search and Rescue medical team and the Linn County Regional SWAT team. The programs require a medical doctor to provide oversight and approval of protocols. The current contract is expiring and the new contract will run through December 31, 2028.
- Approved an Intergovernmental Agreement between the Linn County Sheriff’s Office and the Deschutes County 911 Service District. Linn County will borrow an Evantide Recorder while the LCSO 911 Center’s recorder undergoes maintenance.
- Were told there were 51 births (26 girls and 25 boys) and 100 deaths in February, including three people who were more than 100 years old.
- Reappointed Michelle Hawkins as the Linn County Budget Officer.
- Approved a draft Memorandum of Understanding with the Bureau of Land Management creating a Cooperating Agency status for Linn County for the revision of the Northwestern Resource Management Plan and approved having the Association of Oregon O&C Counties to act as a representative of Linn County with the BLM.
- Set an annexation hearing for 10 a.m. on April 7 at the Board Room. Craig and Debra Bateman want to annex their property at 47080 Evergreen Lane near Lyons into the Lyons Rural Fire Protection District.
- Approved a Personal Services Contract with Family Tree Nursery to provide services to corrections and Drug Court clients who are experiencing addiction issues. The contract is not to exceed $68,082 from July 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025 and $204,246 from January 1, 2026 to August 31, 2027. This is pass-through funding from the Criminal Justice Commission’s Justice Reinvestment Program.
- Were told the Environmental Health Department inspected 54 food service facilities in February and made 11 follow-up inspections.
- Approved the appointment of Marilyn Smith to the Community Service Consortium’s Community Action Advisory Council.