Warner Bartelson

North Valley Hospital - Administrator Warner Bartelson

Warner Bartelson, administrator of North Valley Hospital in Tonasket, said DSHS never told him to be prepared for more emergency room visits.Yet the only pharmacies in Oroville and Tonasket have already notified Medicaid patients they won't be filling prescriptions after today.

He said that, like most hospitals in NCW, he doesn't have a full-time pharmacist.For off-shifts, the pharmacist makes up packs of typical emergency medications in advance, but those packs don't include medications that are prescribed for ongoing medical problems.