East Washingtonian - Your Hometown News Source

Garfield County Hospital District is proud to announce June's Employee of the Month, Val Tewalt. She was nominated by her co-workers who state, "She has a great attitude and is always helping out where needed." Val was born in Newport, Ore. but was raised from her youth in Lebanon, Oregon on the eastern edge of Willamette Valley.

Her earliest work experience began at age 12 where she worked at the Willamette Speedway Racetrack selling food and drinks at a concession stand. "My brother, who was ten years older than me, raced every weekend. I got tired of watching and decided to work instead." From there Val worked in a restaurant part-time throughout high school until her senior year when she began working full-time at the Big Town Hero Sandwich Shop. Her work-school day would begin at 6 a.m. when she would arrive at the sandwich shop to make the bread, attend her first class at 9 a.m., return to the restaurant in time for the lunch rush, go back to school for an afternoon class and then return to the sandwich shop by 6 p.m. to close out the evening shift. Val was no stranger to hard work and that eventually paid off. She not only was promoted to a night shift manager position at 18 years old, but she also graduated from Lebanon Union High School later that year in 1989.

Val was married in 1990 and moved back to Newport, Ore. and started working for Fred Meyer in the Electronics Department for six months. During this time, her husband, Bill, started his lineman apprenticeship through Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee and later was transferred throughout the pacific northwest to California, Oregon, and Washington.

As their family grew with the addition of three children who were approaching school age, and the demands of her husband's traveling career, Val made the important decision to return to Lebanon, Ore. in 2000 to move in with parents and help her mother who had developed Parkinson's Disease. In addition to assisting her mother, Val worked seasonally as a flagger for various companies and worked part-time waitressing and bartending until 2006.

While caring for her aging parents, her dad's twin brother's health was failing due to cancer, so they brought him home where Val began caring for her 80-year-old uncle for the next 3 months. In 2005, her father passed, and Val's little brother moved in and took on the responsibility of caring for their aligning mother.

Her husband was transferred to Pomeroy in 2006, where Val and the children came to visit for two weeks and never left. They heard about the school curriculum and excellent sports offered and decided to enroll in their kids in Pomeroy Jr./Sr. High.

It was through the life experiences of taking care of her elderly family members that prompted Val to obtain her CNA license through the classes offered at the hospital taught by Suzanne Grove, ARNP. In March of 2007, Val completed her training and became a Certified Nursing Assistant.

-Submitted photo

Val Tewalt, Certified Nursing Assistant

Val is an incredible asset to Garfield County Hospital and co-workers say, "She is always putting patients first." When asked what she liked best about her job she replied, "Giving back to the ones who help get us to where we are. I was having a rough time with the loss of my dad and coming here (to the hospital) helped me get passed all that. I could see a little bit of my mom and dad in all the residents, so I felt like they were still with me, and it just brings comfort." Val has volunteered in Activities which she enjoys very much. Co-workers say, "She always goes above and beyond" and "She loves her residents." Please help us in congratulating Val for being a shining example of an outstanding employee of GCHD.