Howard Gamble, 45 year administrator
of Okanogan Douglas District Hospital, passed away this past weekend in his
hometown of Brewster, Washington. Gamble
was long recognized by the American Hospital Association, the American College
of Health Executives, and the Washington State Hospital Association as the
longest serving administrator in the country. He was also widely known in Washington and
nationally for his involvement in rural health and rural health issues.
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| Howard Gamble |
When you think of Okanogan Douglas
District Hospital you also think of Howard Gamble, they are synonymous. Along with a dedicated board of commissioners
and staff, Gamble oversaw the growth of Okanogan Douglas District Hospital from
a small locally funded 12 bed hospital in the late 1940s’ to a large tax funded
50 bed hospital district located in North Central Washington. During his tenure, the facility added a larger
waiting room, surgery suites and a surgical care recovery room, coronary care
unit, pediatric room, laboratory space, intensive care unit, nuclear medicine
department, nursing home, assisted living facility, and fitness center. He was also a founding member of the Okanogan
Douglas District Hospital Foundation and the Hospital Guild.
Gamble presided over several local and
statewide health organizations while heading the Okanogan Douglas District
Hospital. He received the first ever Washington
State Hospital Association’s Joe Hopkins Memorial Award in 1987. The award is bestowed on an individual who
reflects some of the key qualities that made Joe Hopkins special – humor,
warmth, patience, persistence, insight and a commitment to the hospitals of the
state of Washington. In 2003, Gamble was
given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Washington Health Foundation. The foundation stating: For 45 years, Howard Gamble ran the Okanogan
Douglas Hospital in Brewster Washington.
His lifetime of hard work and vision as a hospital administrator, mayor
of Brewster, and president of local and statewide health organizations helped
his rural Community to thrive and influenced health care systems throughout the
state.
Gamble was the mayor of Brewster from
1963 until 1980, leading the town through several major events. He was also active as a sports referee, in
the mentoring program at the Brewster Elementary School that helps young people
read, participated in the Quad City Senior Center as a board member, and was
the #1 fan at Brewster Bears sporting events.
Within the last year, Okanogan
Douglas District Hospital changed their name to Three Rivers Hospital. Asked during this time, how the original name
of the hospital was chosen, Gamble answered:
“I got a call from the county wanting a name immediately, so I just
said: Okanogan Douglas District
Hospital. We always meant to change it,
just never got around to it.”
Bud Hufnagel, CEO of Three Rivers
Hospital, voicing the feelings of all the staff at the hospital: “Howard Gamble will be missed by all that
knew him, not only for his dedication to our hospital and hospital district but
to the rural health of Washington State.
We extend our sympathy to his wife, Dorothy, and his family.”
