Obama heats up Eugene.

Byline: Andrea Damewood and Sue Palmer The Register-Guard

Nurse Margie Tessin-Mason went to work at Sacred Heart Medical Center on Saturday morning expecting a practice drill on the hospital's upcoming move to a new building. Instead, she was given some unexpected face time with Sen. Barack Obama. The encounter left her and dozens of other hospital staff members and patients beaming.

It was just one of a handful of unannounced stops in Eugene on Saturday for the Democratic presidential candidate and his wife, Michelle, as the couple took a last opportunity to influence Oregon voters who still haven't completed ballots for the May 20 primary.

After visiting Sacred Heart, Obama traveled to Roseburg for a town hall meeting, and then returned to Eugene later in the afternoon.

The couple made an unexpected stop for ice cream at Prince Puckler's. Customers intending simply to beat the heat at the campus area shop were stunned by the appearance, and used cell phones to snap photos and call family and friends, telling them to hurry down.

Such attention is rare for a state such as Oregon, where races are usually decided before the state primary, leaving one man in the crowd lingering outside the shop to quip, "I feel like I'm in Iowa!"

Obama's Secret Service entourage swept into the hospital well before his 9:30 a.m. arrival. Then a gaggle of national reporters and photographers were ushered up a back stairway to a third-floor nursing station. Shortly after that, Obama stepped off the elevator to the surprise of many waiting to buy coffee at a nearby kiosk.

At Prince Puckler's, scooper Anna Klassen said they were informed of the visit about 10 minutes before he showed up.

"Someone ordered some ice cream, leaned over the counter and whispered, `Barack is coming, but you can't tell anyone,'?" the 17-year-old Obama fan said. "It was unreal; I look up to him so much."

Secret Service agents cordoned off a walkway into the small store on East 19th Avenue, and the Obamas shook hands with the throng that had gathered on the sidewalk before walking in and greeting surprised patrons.

The candidate ordered a cup of mint chocolate chip and a small taste of green tea ice cream  for himself, along with several other cones for Michelle and a few others, paying the $12.55 bill with a $20 and leaving a $5 tip.

The couple stayed for about 15 minutes, posing for photos with staff and fans inside before continuing on their route to Portland for campaign events today in Gresham and Pendleton.

Standing out front with an Obama sign, Hillary Johnson said she and her daughters, 11 and 7, flew out the door when they got a call that their candidate was nearby.

"They greatest thing is, our kids are so excited about Barack Obama," she said. "My 11-year-old, she's never moved so fast in her life!"

"They were here in a little less than a minute, and they live over a mile away," friend Tom Bascom joked.

Before joining her husband at the store, Michelle Obama stopped by the Obama headquarters in downtown Eugene where she greeted volunteers.

At the hospital, staff members and patients crowded in for the opportunity to shake hands with the candidate at the nursing station.

"I want to talk about health care and nobody knows health care better than nurses," Obama said. He got an earful.

They told him not enough young men and women are stepping into the profession, with teacher and classroom shortages creating a bottleneck for those who do seek training. "Our staff make more than the faculty at the community college," one nurse said.

Also mentioned: a lack of support for mental health services from the state, the federal government and private insurers that means a lack of space dedicated to those with mental illness in the hospital; the high cost of prescription drugs, especially for seniors, that forces people to cut back on drugs or on food; and the increasing number of people who lack insurance, and the strain that puts on emergency rooms.

The litany of concerns isn't unique to Oregon, Obama said.

"That's why we're pushing for universal health care," he said. His hospital visit lasted less than 30 minutes and included another round of hand-shaking, a group photo and the occasional hug.

The visit made an impression on Brittney Johnson, the barista in the coffee kiosk who didn't know Obama was coming until he'd pretty much arrived. Despite recent visits by presidential candidates, it's the first time she's met one.

"I got to shake his hand," she said. "I like him. I think he's a gentleman, so willing to talk with people, he just seems like an ordinary person," she said.

Johnson hasn't filled out her ballot yet, but alreadywas leaning toward Obama. "I'm pretty sure this secured my vote," she said.

For Tessin-Mason, the nurse, the encounter may change her mind. "I'm a strong Hillary supporter, but after meeting the man," she paused and watched as the senator shook a few more hands. "He's got an ability to bring people from all walks of life together," she said.