By Justine Dacanay, HWS communications intern
PULLMAN, Wash. Two physicians – one for urgent care and one for general medicine were recently added to Health and Wellness Services (HWS) at Washington State University due to increased demand for services.
Sunday Henry, formerly a physician at Moscow Family Medicine and team physician for the University of Idaho, was hired to replace an HWS physician who left last year. She is a team physician for WSU athletics in addition to treating patients at the HWS clinic.
Jenell Decker was hired to cover general medicine and urgent care. Urgent care is popular among students and, during a recent remodel, HWS added two urgent care patient rooms that Decker will help staff.
Henry attended medical school at Creighton University School of Medicine in Nebraska and completed her residency at Family Medicine Residency of Idaho in Boise. Completing a fellowship in sports medicine gave her the knowledge to treat athletes at both UI and WSU.
The sports piece of her job at WSU is well integrated into the rest of health services, she said. As a team physician for a Division I school, being on campus gives her better access to athletes during the week. Doctors at HWS have a good reputation, she said, and she is excited to be a new addition to the team.
Henry practiced in Idaho for most of her career and has ties to the local community. Both she and her husband are UI alumni.
“We are diehard Vandals
but I am so happy to be here at WSU,” she said. “I really enjoy students, especially their energy.”
Decker attended medical school at the Marshall University School of Medicine in West Virginia. She completed her residency in family medicine at East Carolina University in North Carolina.
She comes to WSU from Wise, Va., and said she was attracted to Pullman because of its family-oriented community. She has two children and her husband is an adjunct professor in geology at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho.
“She has worked for many years in urgent care settings in West Virginia and Virginia and has pretty much seen just about everything during the course of her experience,” said HWS Executive Director Bruce Wright.
Decker said she practiced mostly in a rural setting. The limited services and resources allowed her to gain experience with a large variety of patients. She works part-time but hopes to increase her hours at the clinic.
“I like the spirit on campus,” she said. “There’s always a sense of hope when you work with students.”