Board President

Board Spotlight:

Kent Bamford, Board President of Haxtun Health

Kent Bamford is a Colorado native raised in Haxtun. He moved to Fort Collins, graduated from CSU and then he and his wife, Naida, moved back to the Haxtun area so he could work on his agriculture businesses and started a cattle feed yard. That feed yard had been in operation for 45 years when it was sold. Kent now operates two businesses, a farming operation and feed company, each run by his two sons. Bamford said he is lucky that his businesses are family owned and he and Naida can work with their sons. “We offer different clinics to our community so that some of the services patients previously had to travel to get, we now offer,” he said. “Our growth is a direct correlation to what we have been able to do because our staff is there for us. It is so great that our community can get the services they need at our hospital — locally.”

His family businesses also allowed him to come home and tap into another passion of his — providing high-quality, local healthcare. Bamford is amazed at what the Haxtun Health staff has done to get through the pandemic and continue to help the hospital grow.

Bamford started as the Board President of Haxtun Health about a year and a half ago. He’s been on the board for about four and a half years. He says that you should give back to the community what they give to you. “Through my career I’ve served on many boards, even as president on a state and national level,” Bamford said humbly. “However, I was born and raised in this area, and I’ve always felt it’s important to be active in your community because this is where you live. I thought it was a wonderful opportunity to join the board and was excited to be a part of it.” Bamford describes his time as Board President as eye-opening. He wasn’t familiar with everything it takes to operate a hospital and stressed the importance of having access to a health care in a rural community.

“The extra efforts that they have given is exhilarating because it makes me know that our employees are invested in what we are trying to achieve at the hospital,” he Kent Bamford said. “They have gone above and beyond and succeeded in these trying times. They have been so dedicated.” Bamford is just one of five board members and stressed that everyone brings a lot to the table, and he is so appreciative of them as well. “We as a board understand our duties to the community and we are always open to visiting with the community about the hospital,” he said. When he’s not buried in work, you can find Kent and Naida cheering on their five grandchildren in their school activities. They also like to travel. They enjoy long road trips together seeing the country, and their favorite place is somewhere they’ve never been.

More than 20 Years of Service Staff Feature:

Barbara Schanhals, MA

Since September of 2001, a friendly face has worked at Haxtun Health. Now she is cutting back her hours in preparation for retirement, but her hard work and dedication haven’t gone unnoticed. Barbara Shanhals Barbara Schanhals has worked as a certified nurse assistant (CNA), a limited scope x-ray operator and a medical assistant (MA). She said the wide variety of medical needs in rural areas is what has kept her interested in medicine for so long. One memory Schanhals will never forget is when a young mom asked to watch her pregnancy test with her.

“In larger cities, your MAs do one thing, but here in rural America, I can say hello to and help welcome babies into the world but also hold hands of those who need it when saying goodbye to someone and everything inbetween,” Schanhals said. Something Schanhals loves about working at Haxtun is the ability to keep learning no matter what. “For me, it was to work with providers that always took the time to teach and listen,” she said. “Being able to keep learning is the best part of my career. I have learned so much in working here.” “As it became positive, the look on her face was priceless,” she said. “It was an amazing moment. She jumped up and hugged me. It was so joyous.” The memories don’t end with patients either. The team at Haxtun has also been a huge part of her life. When Schanhals got the call that her son, who had deployed, was coming home from Afghanistan, coworkers happydanced with her. The Haxtun Health team has also helped her as a patient when Schanhals faced an intensive hip repair.

Barbara Shanhals

“I have the best reviews for our physical therapy (PT) department,” she said. “They just brought me back.”