County, city helps bring medical clinic to Milton-Freewater

By Dan Thesman on Friday, June 7th, 2024 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

MILTON-FREEWATER – The Umatilla County Board of Commissioners announce Dr. Derek Earl and his team are opening a medical clinic in Milton-Freewater.

Board Chair John Shafer said Commissioner Cindy Timmons campaigned on the lack of a doctor from the Oregon/Washington state line to Pendleton.

“Day one, she (Timmons) was hitting the ground looking, trying to find somebody to hang their shingle out and say, I’m open for business, and, you know, she found it,” Shafer said.

Shafer explains Timmons went to work to find a doctor to serve the north end of Umatilla County, after the former provider moved out of the area to practice elsewhere.

There’s not an exact date on when the clinic will open. The Milton-Freewater site, located at 10 NE Fifth Ave. is currently being remodeled and will join personnel located in Hermiston, Umatilla and Boardman.

“It has been a long process,” Mayor Lewis Key said. “We are really excited that we were able to bring a doctor to Milton-Freewater.”