What do you do here?
I am a front desk receptionist, which involves answering phones, checking patients in and out, and doing a lot of back and forth and odd jobs.
Tell me a fun fact about yourself!
I grew up in the valley, and I have lived here since I was very, very, very little. I only ever went to Diana’s Baths for the first time last year [laughs] in all the years I’ve lived here. And it was beautiful and worth going, for sure.
What do you like about working at a community health center?
I love the focus on holistic care, versus just the medical side of people’s care, and I love that we really try to meet people where they are at – emotionally, financially, physically, health-wise, wherever they’re at, we try to meet them and just help them a little bit, and I really like being a part of that.
What’s your favorite thing to do for fun in our area?
Probably my favorite thing to do is honestly just spend a day at the river. I love to just take a pool noodle, if the water is calm, and just float around for hours. I’m not hugely into hiking, which is unfortunate in this area, but I love playing on any surface of water in the area, kayaking, swimming, even fishing, although I don’t do that too often I love to fish.
What book, TV show, movie, music album, etc. has brought you joy or made you think recently?
Right now, I am rereading Dune, which is one of my favorite books of all time, in hot anticipation of Dune: Part Two coming out, the movie. Dune is something I read the first time when I was like 14. I didn’t understand it at all, it was a big book. And then I reread it as an adult and now it’s one of my favorite books ever, so that is something I like to periodically just reread for fun. I have a Dune tattoo!
I've never read it!
It’s awesome, it’s a little hard to get into. The beginning hundred pages or so - it's one of those books where it’s a little dense at the beginning, and then you get into the meat of it, and it’s absolutely wild and it’s honestly the basis for a lot of modern-day science fiction. It’s an older book, but it’s held up really well and it’s *awesome*. I have not read the sequels or the other books, I cannot speak on those, but yeah, it’s a really good book if you ever need something to occupy a chunk of your time, highly recommend.
Anything else you’d like to share?
The community health center is awesome. What do I love about this place? I love the people who work here, and I love how everyone goes out of their way to help each other throughout the day. I’ve never worked in an environment where people help you just because they see you need it. And I think that embodies a lot of the community health spirit right there.
A conversation between Lauren Bahre, Front Desk, and Siena Kaplan-Thompson, Director of Communication and Development.