PHOTO COURTESY OF GSHCS
When Daniel Buck, M.D., left Hermiston, he never thought he’d be back. Like many young people, he had aspirations of exploring the world. However, for this Hermiston High School graduate the desire to be closer to both he and his wife’s family and the need at Good Shepherd Health Care System (GSHCS) for an emergency room physician was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
“It truly is like coming home,” said Buck. “My parents still live in the same house that I grew up in! Hermiston is still pretty much how I remember it – friendly and welcoming, though there are a lot more housing developments and new shopping centers than I remember as a kid, and I think that is great for our community to be actively wanting to grow.” For the Buck family and their eight children, ranging in ages from 22 to 7, coming home will be a new life experience – especially moving from Edgewood, Kentucky where Buck just completed his Family Medicine Residency.
“I have a very diverse set of skills, and I believe that all of the training that I have has prepared me to care for this community,” he said. “I have completed an internship in surgery, where I also had an opportunity to care for patients of a burn unit in a level I trauma center, which provides the highest level of surgical care to patients. I also have served as a certified anesthesia technician and have performed hundreds of intubations and other invasive procedures, and I also spent time in the Oregon Army National Guard as an EMT where I would triage and administer emergency treatment to soldiers.”
While not in the ER, Dr. Buck is looking forward to spending time with his family outdoors and around the mountains.
“The high desert has its own beauty,” he said. “As a child my grandma would take me fishing in the ponds by McNary Dam and around Hat Rock, I can’t wait to share those same fishing holes with my kids. I also enjoy all kinds of outdoor activities, but fishing is a favorite, and I can’t wait to launch a boat on the Columbia River and cast my line.”
