Oregon State Hospital nurse David Peckfelder named national Kindness is Contagious winner

Gannett LocaliQ sales executive Steve Rice (left), Cherie and David Peckfelder, and Advantage Heating & Air Conditioning representative Melanie Weiss celebrate after David was recognized nationally in the healthcare profession.
Gannett LocaliQ sales executive Steve Rice (left), Cherie and David Peckfelder, and Advantage Heating & Air Conditioning representative Melanie Weiss celebrate after David was recognized nationally in the healthcare profession.

Mental health nurse David Peckfelder's passion for helping people began before he started working at the Oregon State Hospital 19 years ago.

“I care about people. I want to make them feel good and feel validated and respected and loved,” Peckfelder said Wednesday after being named the national winner in Gannett Media Group's Kindness is Contagious caregiver competition and awarded $5,000.

He was one of more than 100 nominees from the Salem area sponsored locally by Advantage Heating & Air Conditioning, and among more than 5,000 individuals nominated nationally. The Statesman Journal is owned by Gannett.

Peckfelder, of Stayton, said seeing patients at the state hospital come from incredibly difficult places and get back on their feet has been inspiring.

“He helps people feel normal that don’t. He sees people,” his wife, Cherie Peckfelder, said.

Peckfelder was a medic in the U.S. Army, helped open a group home in Corvallis for those with behavioral health conditions, and is an instructor at Sumner College’s nursing department in Portland.

Becoming an instructor, he said, has been one of the most fulfilling parts of his career.

Sydney Wyatt covers healthcare inequities in the Mid-Willamette Valley for the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions, and tips to her at SWyatt@gannett.com, (503) 399-6613, or on Twitter @sydney_elise44

The Statesman Journal’s coverage of healthcare inequities is funded in part by the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, which seeks to strengthen the cultural, social, educational, and spiritual base of the Pacific Northwest through capacity-building investments in the nonprofit sector.  

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon nurse recognized in national caregiver competition