New dermatology clinic coming to Pendleton in September

Published 2:00 pm Friday, August 16, 2019

Weldon

PENDLETON — One of the largest dermatology groups in the Northwest, Silver Falls Dermatology, will be opening its doors in Pendleton next month.

Dermatology-trained family nurse practitioner Lorrie Weldon will be the primary care provider at the clinic. She’s new to the Silver Falls team, and is coming from California.

“I visited Pendleton and I liked the town, the people there seem very friendly,” she said.

Weldon has nursing degrees from John Hopkins School of Nursing and the University of California, San Francisco. She said she looks forward to providing care in the area.

“Most people might have to commute to Washington for dermatology care right now,” she said. “There’s a need.”

Dr. John Young, who founded Silver Falls Dermatology and Allergy, said the clinic is special in the sense that Weldon will be linked into an electronic platform that allows her to communicate with and get information from other dermatology specialists that work with Silver Falls, across the region, in real time.

“Our model is kind of like teledermatology on steroids,” Young said. “That’s worked very well for us, allowing us to take care of lesser served areas.”

The Pendleton location is the 27th Silver Falls Dermatology clinic to open in the Pacific Northwest.

Young, who is originally from New Orleans, said inspiration for starting Silver Falls Dermatology came from his time as a flight surgeon in the Air Force.

“In the military, I found it was hard to get people into specialists. I wanted to be a specialist who was embracing the primary care world by providing access,” he said.

Young studied at Louisiana State University, and went on to earn his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

The Pendleton clinic will provide diagnosis and treatment of hair, skin and nail conditions like acne, psoriasis, bacterial and viral infections and herpes. They also provide allergy-immunology services.

The office will accept most insurance plans, including Medicaid.

“For the foreseeable future, we’ll have the capacity to have people seen the same week they call. We try to keep our waits and our waiting lists short,” said Rachael Rossman, marketing director for Silver Falls.

Silver Falls Dermatology will open and start accepting new patients on Sept. 3. The clinic will be located at 1100 Southgate, Suite 6, Pendleton. Those interested can call 541-210-5771 for information or to set up an appointment

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