LA GRANDE — Karen Timm will become the next chief nursing officer of Grande Ronde Hospital and Clinics, the hospital announced in a press release on Tuesday, July 26.

Timm comes to Union County from the Midwest — most recently Omaha, Nebraska, where she has been working as an independent health care consultant helping health care organizations identify and navigate significant strategic, operational and regularity business risks and opportunities.

Before that, Timm served 10 years as a vice president for patient services at a 79-bed, not-for-profit regional hospital and nursing home in Carroll, Iowa; another four years as an independent health care consultant in Oskaloosa, Iowa, and as executive director of the Mahaska Health Partnership, a more than 100-year old health system in Oskaloosa.

Timm’s career also includes time as a staff nurse, outpatient clinic director and travel nurse.

Timm earned her master of science in nursing with a concentration in nursing administration from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and her bachelor of science in nursing with a minor in psychology from Morningside College, a private, four-year liberal arts college in Iowa.