Community bids Dr. Avalon farewell

The Wahkiakum County community gathered last Sunday to bid farewell to Dr. Richard Avalon.

The doctor, whose family has served the county’s medical needs since the 1950’s, is leaving to join a practice in Renton. He started practicing medicine in Cathlamet with his father, Dr. Phil Avalon, in 1984.

Members of the county’s Emergency Medical Services, which Avalon has directed since he started practicing here, organized a program with speakers pharmacist Roy LaBerge, Dr. Keith Wright, Nurse Practitioner Margie Godfrey, Paramedic Cindy Faubion, and nursing home Executive Director Duncan Cruikshank, who served as master of ceremonies.

“Richard has been very dedicated to the patients of the county, and he’s been very generous to the people here,” LaBerge said. “Without Richard, we wouldn’t have the great ambulance service that we do have. We all owe a great debt for that."

LaBerge also commented that Dr. Avalon is persistent: When LaBerge had a medical problem earlier this year that was hard to diagnose, Dr. Avalon kept pushing tests and LaBerge had angioplasty to take care of an artery. “Without his persistence, I’d have been in real trouble,” he said.

Godfrey said she has enjoyed working with Dr. Avalon because he is helpful and supportive and that he had trusted her skills.

Dr. Wright described the many contributions and jobs that Dr. Avalon had held in the region’s medical field: Besides being the county’s emergency medical program director, he was doctor for the nursing home; he headed programs and staff committees at St. John Medical Center. He said that the last time Dr. Avalon had taken the board certification exam, he had placed in the top two percent nationwide.

“He is truly knowledgeable, and it will be a tremendous loss for our community,” Dr. Wright said. “He’s a very strong patient advocate.”

Cruikshank commented that as nursing home director, he probably had sat with patients in examination rooms with Dr. Avalon more than anyone and seen the excellence of his work and care.

Also an emergency medical technician, Cruikshank noted that the two doctors work all day in the clinic, take care of hospital rounds in the evening, and frequently respond at night to emergencies, and then start another day.

“He has pushed our emergency medical system to get better,” Cruikshank said. “He has contributed to this county in many ways. He will be missed.

“Period.”

Faubion noted that she and Dr. Avalon had grown up together in Cathlamet and gone to school together.

He has always practiced medicine with devotion,” she said. “He has the ability to be right. He’s intuitive. He does research.

“He was always available to help the EMT’s, and he always expected us to do our best. He brought our system up to a very high standard.”

Dr. Avalon concluded the program by thanking the community and his co-workers for their support.

The community has had good people willing to volunteer and work to make the emergency medical service one of the best in the state, he said. The staff at the clinic has always tried to be on the cutting edge of good practice.

“I will miss you all,” he said. “I’ll miss the patients and the community.”