Who Really Runs Union County
The elected Board of Commissioners is the front door. Behind it, the same people sit on the county's largest hospital board, its foundation, the primary human-services nonprofit, and the only full-service law firm -- the firm that also holds the county-counsel contract. This is a map of those overlaps, and of the money flowing through them.
Union County, Oregon has roughly 26,000 residents. Its elected government is three nonpartisan county commissioners, each earning $88,212 per year. Their chief legal advisor is Wyatt S. Baum, founding partner of Baum Smith LLC and a fourth-generation member of the family that has been continuously involved in Grande Ronde Hospital governance since 1962.
The county's largest employer is Grande Ronde Hospital -- a 25-bed Critical Access Hospital with FY2023 revenue of $150.2 million, 933 employees, and a self-perpetuating board of trustees that selects its own replacements with no public vote. The hospital and its foundation together control more than $240 million in assets. Wyatt Baum sits on the GRH Foundation board alongside commissioner Paul Anderes -- the same commissioner whose board voted unanimously in January 2025, on Baum's recommendation, to ask a circuit court to strike down voter-approved term limits.
The money flows in loops. Oregon taxpayers fund Union County government. County government pays Baum Smith LLC for legal services under an undisclosed contract. County government appoints commissioner liaisons (Matt Scarfo) to the Center for Human Development. CHD receives $8.6 million a year in program-services revenue -- almost all of it Oregon Medicaid dollars flowing through EOCCO, the Coordinated Care Organization in which GRH holds a 10 percent ownership stake. GRH's CEO, Jeremy Davis, represents GRH on the EOCCO board. GRH takes its own name, in reverse, from its old legal name -- Eastern Oregon Community Medical Center -- which is where the "EO" in EOCCO comes from.
What this page documents is not corruption -- that determination is for investigators and courts. What it documents is structural overlap: the same people appear on the public board, on the hospital board, on the foundation board, and on the human-services board. When the county counsel is also the city attorney is also on the hospital foundation board, the question of who checks his advice becomes structurally difficult to answer.
Board overlap matrix
Rows are people. Columns are institutions. A filled cell means the corpus documents a seat or role; empty cells mean no seat found, not a denial of one. Hover a cell for the role and date range; click the source tag to open the citation.
| Person | Commission | GRH Board | GRH Fdn | CHD | Baum Smith | EOCCO | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2+ Wyatt S. Baum County Counsel; GRH Foundation; founding Baum Smith partner | County Counsel (outside contract)src | -- | Board membersrc | -- | -- | -- | |
Paul Anderes Commission Chair (not seeking reelection) | -- | Board membersrc | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
R. Matt Scarfo Commission, Position 2; OGEC case 25-708ECF | -- | -- | Commissioner liaisonsrc | -- | -- | -- | |
Jake Seavert Commission, Position 3; moved the Jan 22 motion | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
2+ Jeremy P. Davis, MHA GRH President and CEO; EOCCO board | -- | President and CEO (voting member)src | -- | -- | -- | GRH representative to EOCCO boardsrc | -- |
Samuel (Sam) Kimball, OD GRH Board Chair (current); optometrist -- Vice Chair FY2024 | -- | Board Chair (current; VC FY2024)src | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Stephen McLean GRH Board Chair FY2024 per Form 990 | -- | Chair (FY2024)src | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Stephen McIlmoil, MD GRH Trustee + top-compensated physician ($524,954 FY2024) | -- | Trustee (physician; $524,954 comp FY2024)src | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Aaron Wells Grigg, MD GRH pediatrician (NPI 1083804918); Chief Medical Informatics Officer; Medical Staff President on GRH Board of Trustees | -- | Medical Staff President (voting Trustee)src | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
2+ Aaron Anderson Grigg, LCSW Center for Human Development Mental Health Director (NPI 1477649549); GOBHI board member FY2017-FY2022; CHD capitation recipient | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | GOBHI board (Member/Secretary); CHD capitation recipient ($3.66M FY2018)src: private research | -- |
Rebecca Locke, DO GRH Trustee (physician) | -- | Trustee (physician)src | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Lewis Baynes, MD GRH Trustee (physician) | -- | Trustee (physician)src | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Kathleen Cathey GRH Trustee | -- | Trusteesrc | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Michael Hetrick GRH Trustee | -- | Trusteesrc | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Patty Olson-Lindsey GRH Trustee | -- | Trusteesrc | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Mike Billman GRH Trustee | -- | Trusteesrc | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Nick Huelter GRH Trustee | -- | Trusteesrc | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Bill Gamble GRH Trustee | -- | Trusteesrc | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Patty Barfield GRH Trustee | -- | Trusteesrc | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
2+ Jared Rogers GRH Vice Chair + MESC Chair (continuous since 2012); AHA Governance | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
2+ Debra Bell Sits on BOTH GRH boards (only confirmed dual-Hospital seat) | -- | Trusteesrc | Board membersrc | -- | -- | -- | -- |
2+ Heather Null GRH Foundation Secretary; spouse of Bingaman 23PR02271 court-appointed attorney J. Glenn Null | -- | -- | Secretarysrc | -- | -- | -- | Household tie -- J. Glenn Null (ct-appointed counsel, 23PR02271)src |
Shannon Houck GRH Foundation Chair (2026) | -- | -- | Chairsrc | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Dwight Dill CHD Chair; prior CHD management (2014-17) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
Peter Maille CHD Vice Chair | -- | -- | -- | Vice Chairmansrc | -- | -- | -- |
2+ Gary Bell Sits on both CHD Board and GRH Board of Trustees | -- | Trusteesrc | -- | Board membersrc | -- | -- | -- |
2+ George Mendoza Sits on both GRH Foundation and CHD Board | -- | -- | Board membersrc | Board membersrc | -- | -- | -- |
David C. Baum Jr. Legacy Baum partner; removed from OTEC board May 2025 | -- | -- | -- | -- | Partner (legacy)src | -- | |
Brent Smith Named partner at Baum Smith | -- | -- | -- | -- | Partnersrc | -- | -- |
Sadie Kennedy Associate at Baum Smith | -- | -- | -- | -- | Associatesrc | -- | -- |
Dr. Andrew D. Baum, DPM Wyatt Baum's brother; GRH Clinics podiatrist (Aug 2025-) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | Podiatrist, GRH Clinics (hired Aug 2025)src |
David C. Baum Sr. (deceased) Founder of the GRH Board of Trustees (1962) | -- | Founded the Foundation (1969)src | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
Tayde McAndie GRH Foundation Vice Chair | -- | -- | Vice Chairsrc | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Steve Wilcox GRH Foundation Treasurer | -- | -- | Treasurersrc | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Jared Hulme, NP-C GRH Foundation board; $132K related-party comp | -- | -- | Board member ($132K related-party FY2024)src | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Libby Goben GRH Foundation board member | -- | -- | Board membersrc | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Patrick Flynn GRH Foundation Manager ($78,379 comp) | -- | -- | Foundation Manager ($78,379)src | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Doug Briney CHD Board Secretary (FY2023) | -- | -- | -- | Secretarysrc | -- | -- | -- |
Farideh Alvijeh CHD Board member (FY2023) | -- | -- | -- | Board membersrc | -- | -- | -- |
Kaytlin Killion CHD Board member (FY2023) | -- | -- | -- | Board membersrc | -- | -- | -- |
Keith Hudson CHD Board member (FY2023) | -- | -- | -- | Board membersrc | -- | -- | -- |
Toni Smith CHD Board member (FY2023) | -- | -- | -- | Board membersrc | -- | -- | -- |
Doug Romer CHD Interim Chair FY2021 (historical) [confidence C -- flagged for verification] | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
Cheri Davis MESC Director (2012-2025) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
Erin Anderson MESC Director/Secretary (2012-2025) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
Stacy Shown MESC Chair (2016-2023) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
2+ Jill Boyd MESC Chair 2014-2016 + OHA/GOBHI employee + Judge Jared Boyd's spouse | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | GOBHI/OHA employeesrc | |
Jennifer Graffunder MESC historical board member | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | Mt. Emily Safe Center -- Board membersrc |
Ryan Oscar Miller MESC historical board member | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | Mt. Emily Safe Center -- Board membersrc |
2+ Dennis Burke MESC Treasurer + ex-Good Shepherd CEO + EOCCO permanent attendee | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | EOCCO consultant / permanent attendeesrc: private research | Mt. Emily Safe Center -- Treasurersrc |
David Richardson Moda SVP; chairs EOCCO board meetings | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | EOCCO Chair (Moda SVP)src: private research | -- |
Joe Greenman Moda Associate General Counsel; EOCCO board | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | EOCCO board (Moda AGC)src: private research | -- |
Karen Wheeler Former GOBHI CEO | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | Ex-GOBHI CEOsrc: private research | -- |
Chris Siegner GOBHI Chair; Symmetry Care capitation $1.12M | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | GOBHI Chair (Symmetry Care cap $1.12M)src: private research | -- |
Ann Ford GOBHI CEO (current) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | GOBHI CEOsrc: private research | -- |
Shawn Gee EOIPA (Eastern Oregon IPA) representative on EOCCO | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | EOIPA rep on EOCCO boardsrc: private research | -- |
Chanel Kelly EOCCO Community Advisory Council (CAC) Chair | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | CAC Chairsrc: private research | -- |
Daniel W. Grigg, FACHE Wallowa Memorial Hospital CEO (Sept 2023-present); Harney District Hospital CEO 2015-2023; EOCCO board (Dec 2024) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | Wallowa Memorial Hospital rep on EOCCO boardsrc | -- |
Cam Marlowe Blue Mountain Hospital -- EOCCO board seat | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | Blue Mountain Hospital rep on EOCCOsrc: private research | -- |
2+ Bob Seymour GRH CFO; represents GRH at EOCCO | -- | GRH CFO (officer)src: private research | -- | -- | -- | GRH rep at EOCCOsrc: private research | -- |
Empty cells = absence of evidence, not evidence of absence. If you know of a seat we missed, email levi@valorinvestigates.com with the public record and we will add it.
The money flow
A tiered block diagram: public funding sources on the left, institutional intermediaries in the middle, compensation and outbound payments on the right. Every dollar figure has a citation. A screen-reader accessible table follows the diagram.
View the money-flow data as a table (screen-reader friendly)
| From | To | Flow | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon taxpayers | Union County government | property tax + state | $70.5M FY26 budget | public-records/commissioner-salaries-and-more.md |
| Medicare / CMS | Grande Ronde Hospital, Inc. | Medicare (CAH cost-based) | -- | organizations/grande-ronde-hospital/SUMMARY.md |
| Oregon Health Authority / OHP | EOCCO (CCO) | Medicaid capitation | -- | players/baum-family.md |
| EOCCO (CCO) | Grande Ronde Hospital, Inc. | CCO payments (GRH 10% owner) | -- | players/baum-family.md |
| EOCCO (CCO) | Center for Human Development | behavioral-health capitation | -- | organizations/center-for-human-development/SUMMARY.md |
| State grants / Measure 110 | Center for Human Development | state grants + Measure 110 | -- | organizations/center-for-human-development/SUMMARY.md |
| Private donors | GRH Foundation | contributions (67% of fdn revenue) | -- | players/grh-board-rosters.md |
| Union County government | 3 commissioners | 3 x $88,212/yr | $264,636/yr | public-records/commissioner-salaries-and-more.md |
| Union County government | County Admin Officer | Admin Officer salary | $112,656/yr | public-records/commissioner-salaries-and-more.md |
| Union County government | Baum Smith LLC | county-counsel contract | -- | public-records/commissioner-salaries-and-more.md |
| Grande Ronde Hospital, Inc. | GRH CEO (Jeremy Davis) | CEO total comp | $491,012 | players/baum-family.md |
| Grande Ronde Hospital, Inc. | GRH top physician | top physician comp | $970,458 | players/baum-family.md |
| GRH Foundation | Foundation -> GRH equipment grant | equipment grant to hospital | $582,097 | players/grh-board-rosters.md |
| Center for Human Development | CHD top NP (Lynn Willis) | top key-employee comp | $156,190 | organizations/center-for-human-development/990-board-and-comp.md |
Organizations
Grande Ronde Hospital
Domestic Nonprofit Corporation (Critical Access Hospital)
Legal: GRANDE RONDE HOSPITAL, INC.
900 Sunset Dr, La Grande, OR 97850
Key people
Grande Ronde Hospital is a 25-bed Critical Access Hospital incorporated April 18, 1962 as 'Eastern Oregon Community Medical Center, Inc.' -- the same name that Oregon's Eastern Oregon Coordinated Care Organization (EOCCO) inherited. GRH holds a 10% ownership stake in EOCCO, the CCO that manages Medicaid for all 12 Eastern Oregon counties.
David C. Baum Sr. was elected the very first Board Chair in 1962 and served 15 consecutive years until his death in 1977. His grandson Wyatt Baum now sits on the GRH Foundation Board -- 64 years of continuous Baum family governance involvement. The Board of Trustees is self-perpetuating: trustees select their own replacements with no public vote.
GRH was a defendant in Onwezen v. GRH (3:18-cv-01756), an unsealed False Claims Act whistleblower case alleging Dr. Emilia Arden implanted 100+ unnecessary pacemakers. The case was dropped after GRH self-refunded Medicare; no patients were compensated.
Center for Human Development (CHD)
Domestic Nonprofit Corporation (Human Services)
Legal: CENTER FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, INC.
2301 Cove Ave, La Grande, OR 97850
Key people
CHD is Union County's primary human-services nonprofit, incorporated December 1, 1994. It handles mental health, addiction treatment, developmental-disabilities services, public-health contracts, and case management -- the behavioral-health complement to GRH's acute care.
CHD funding mostly flows through EOCCO capitation and state grants (Measure 110). Revenue has grown 71% in five years, driven by CCO reimbursements rather than new grants. No Oregon organizational NPI was found; CHD appears to bill Medicaid via umbrella contractors (likely GOBHI or EOCCO) rather than directly.
Dwight Dill transitioned from CHD Management (2014-2017, paid $104K-$107K) directly to Board Chair -- a former-staff-to-chair pipeline that Oregon nonprofit governance standards flag as a conflict concern.
Baum Smith LLC
Oregon law firm (founding year 2006)
Legal: Baum Smith, LLC (also listed as Baum Smith & Eyre LLC)
808 Adams Ave / 1902 4th St Ste 1, La Grande, OR 97850
Key people
Baum Smith is the primary full-service law firm in Union County and the county-counsel contractor. Wyatt S. Baum simultaneously serves as city attorney for at least six municipalities across four counties, municipal judge in Wallowa, school board counsel in Ontario, and a GRH Foundation board member -- all held by one attorney.
The firm is the successor to Mautz Baum & O'Hanlon. That predecessor firm produced two sitting judges in the 10th Judicial District: Brian Dretke (associate ~1997-2000, circuit judge 2012-2017) and Mona K. Williams (associate, judge 2018-2019). Judge Thomas Powers -- who struck down the term-limits ordinance on Wyatt Baum's petition -- was appointed in 2017 to replace Dretke.
The Baum Smith LLC / Union County legal services contract has not been produced publicly. The FY 2025-26 county salary schedule contains no 'County Counsel' line item, suggesting Baum is paid as a contractor rather than an employee. A public records request for the contract has been recommended but not yet filed.
Union County Board of Commissioners
Three-seat elected county government (nonpartisan since ~2014)
1106 K Ave, La Grande, OR 97850
Key people
Union County has approximately 26,000 residents. The Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on January 22, 2025 -- on county counsel Wyatt Baum's recommendation -- to petition the circuit court to strike down voter-approved term-limits Ordinance 2017-01. No public hearings were held before the petition was filed.
Measure 31-89 passed in May 2016 with 68% support (5,578 yes / 2,599 no). Donna Beverage was the only commissioner ever forced out under the ordinance; her replacement Jake Seavert moved the January 22, 2025 motion to destroy the limits that had created his own vacancy.
As of April 2026, the Oregon Government Ethics Commission is conducting an active investigation (case 25-708ECF) into whether Commissioner Scarfo violated ORS 244.040(1) (use of office for personal gain) and ORS 244.120(2) (failure to declare conflict of interest). OGEC voted 7-0 on February 6, 2026 to open the investigation.
EOCCO / GOBHI
Medicaid Coordinated Care Organization + behavioral-health co-owner
Legal: Eastern Oregon Coordinated Care Organization; Greater Oregon Behavioral Health, Inc.
Key people
Finances & footprint
- GRH ownership share of EOCCO: 10%[src]
- GOBHI ownership share of EOCCO: 29%[src]
- Coverage area: All 12 Eastern Oregon counties (Oregon Health Plan / Medicaid)[src]
- CMS fraud-detection capacity: 2 FTEs at 5% time for 77,000 members; $100,000+ in unreported recoupments; 1 full investigation in 3 federal fiscal years[src]
EOCCO derives its name from GRH's previous corporate name, 'Eastern Oregon Community Medical Center, Inc.' GRH is one of six named owner-members in the 2022 EOCCO CGAD (along with Good Shepherd, Moda/ODS, GOBHI, Saint Alphonsus).
GOBHI (Greater Oregon Behavioral Health Inc.) owns 29% of EOCCO. Jill Boyd -- wife of current 10th District Circuit Judge Jared Boyd -- works for OHA and GOBHI and previously chaired the Mt. Emily Safe Center board (2014-2016). Judge Boyd presides over guardianship cases in the same district.
A CMS Focused Program Integrity Review flagged EOCCO for dedicating only two FTEs at 5% of their time to fraud detection for 77,000 members, $100,000+ in unreported recoupments, and just one full fraud investigation across three federal fiscal years.
Follow the money
Four starter queries that walk through the connections. Every answer is grounded in a corpus file with a clickable citation.
Query the power map
These questions trace the overlaps between the Commission, the hospital, CHD, and the county-counsel firm. Click one to run it.
400 indexed leads across 12 categories
Methodology
Every board seat, dollar figure, and date on this page is traceable to a specific corpus file. Primary sources include: IRS Form 990 filings (via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer), Oregon Secretary of State business registry (via OpenCorporates), CMS NPPES and Hospital General Information, Union County Board of Commissioners meeting minutes, Union County annual salary reports, OGEC case files and meeting books, and public reporting in The Observer (La Grande), OPB, East Oregonian, and Elkhorn Media Group.
Empty cells in the board-overlap matrix mean the corpus does not document a seat. They do not mean the person has no seat on that body. If you have a public record we missed, email levi@valorinvestigates.com and we will add it.
Baum Smith LLC's compensation from Union County is not yet publicly documented. Union County's FY 2025-26 salary schedule contains no "County Counsel" line item, suggesting Baum is paid as a contractor rather than an employee. A public records request for the contract has been recommended but not yet filed. This is a gap, not a finding.
Corporate data attribution: OpenCorporates (ODbL licensed, sourced from Oregon Secretary of State). Nonprofit data: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (original IRS filings). Medicare data: CMS NPPES and data.cms.gov public APIs. Court data: Oregon eCourt public records.