October 31, 2022 | Advice to the Future Governor: Bringing Leadership to Behavioral Health Integration

October 11, 2022November 11, 2022 Ross

Oregon is about to elect a new governor, and she will have the opportunity to shape health care policy for years to come. Meanwhile, Oregon faces an unprecedented mental health care crisis and possesses a unique opportunity to offer innovation in the field of behavioral health integration. Join Oregon Health Forum as we bring together a diverse panel of experts to provide practical advice on the challenges, opportunities, and policy priorities when it comes to integrating behavioral and physical health.

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Moderator:

Ebony Clarke
Director, Multnomah County Health Department

Ebony Clarke, Director of the Multnomah County Health Department, and previous Multnomah County Behavioral Health Director, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) who has 24 years of experience working in both the publicly funded and non-profit behavioral health arena influencing policy, developing services and supports, providing leadership, organizational development, people management, and equity and inclusion. Before joining the county, she worked as a Service Director of Child and Family Services at Lifeworks NW. In October of 2020, Ebony was appointed by Oregon Governor Kate Brown to the Oregon Health Policy Board. In April 2013, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber appointed Ms. Clarke to the Oregon State Board of Licensed Social Workers, where she served two terms. She has also volunteered her time on the Lake Oswego School District Board Appointed Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee serving as one of the Co-Chairs. Ebony’s mission is to build and support a continuum of care that yields equitable and quality services to promote individual, family and community healing and wellbeing. During her off time, she enjoys spending time with her husband of 20 years Matt, and their two son’s Matteo and Miles ages 15 and 10.

Panelists:

Rep. Rob Nosse
District 42, Portland, State Representative (D)

Since 2014, Rob Nosse has been the state representative for HD 42 which consists of inner SE and a little sliver of NE Portland. He has recently served on the Ways and Means Committee where he was the sub-committee co-chair for human services and he also served as Vice Chair of the House Behavioral Health Care Committee. He is now the chair of the House Health Committee.

Representative Nosse lives in SE Portland with his husband Jim. They have 2 children and 3 grandchildren. He is an activist/organizer at heart. He has worked his entire working life to make positive social change for students, working families and nurses. Rob previously worked at the Oregon Nurses Association for almost twenty years; he advocated for working people/nurses as a union representative. Representative Nosse has also been an activist on LGBTQ rights. Before joining the legislature, he served as a board member of Basic Rights Oregon Equality PAC helping to elect pro LGBTQ candidates to elected office and worked to bring marriage equality to our state.

Dr. Caroline Fisher
Germane and Wise, Psychiatrist and Collaborative Care Consultant

Dr. Caroline Fisher is the principal and lead practitioner at Germane & Wise—a board-certified child psychiatrist with over 20 years of clinical experience and 15 years of progressively responsible leadership experience. Dr. Fisher earned her bachelor’s degree in economics from Dartmouth College before receiving her MD in psychiatry and PhD in pharmacology from the Boston University School of Medicine and a master’s of healthcare administration from Louisiana State University. She did her residency at UMass Memorial Health Care in Worcester, MA. Her educational background and professional experience have made her at home with the businesses of both medicine and clinical care.

Prior to founding Germane & Wise, Dr. Fisher served as the CEO of South Sound Behavioral Hospital, a free-standing psychiatric hospital in Olympia, WA. This work was preceded by her position as Vice President of Samaritan Health where she oversaw mental health service lines across five hospitals. Her work there focused on improving performance, patient satisfaction, and quality of care, including the introduction of collaborative care delivery models.

Having seen firsthand the success that collaborative care models can bring to a struggling medical practice, Dr. Fisher decided to make the implementation of these programs her singular focus. She created Germane & Wise to bring collaborative care models to clinics and hospitals in need and improve mental health delivery systems across the United States.

Amy Baker
Clatsop Behavioral Health, Executive Director

Amy Baker is the Executive Director of Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare and has been innovating and developing new programs and services in Clatsop County for the past six years. She has over 25 years of experience in the behavioral health field. Amy received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon and her Master’s Degree in Social Work from Smith College School for Social Work in 1995. She has provided leadership for 11 years in two different not-for-profit provider organizations, including Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare. Amy led children’s mental health systems change in Lane County and Multnomah County and directed the children’s mental health system at the state of Oregon in 2013. Her breadth and depth of experience in Oregon’s behavioral health system has informed her passionate beliefs on how to improve Oregon’s healthcare and safety net system to better serve individuals with behavioral health conditions.

Dr. Melanie Henriksen
National University of Natural Medicine, President, Certified Nurse Midwife, Licensed Naturopath, Acupuncturist

Dr. Henriksen is a 2005 graduate from the National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM). She graduated with dual degrees including a Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine and a Masters in Classical Chinese medicine. Dr. Henriksen completed her general medicine residency at NUNM. In 2006, she began pursuing a Master of Nursing degree from Oregon Health & Science University, eventually becoming a certified nurse midwife in 2009.

After graduating from OHSU, Dr. Henriksen accepted the Residency Director role at NUNM. Three years later, she became NUNM’s Dean of Naturopathic Medicine and served in that capacity for the next five years.

With a strong desire to spend more time in a clinical setting, Dr. Henriksen left NUNM in 2017 and joined Kaiser Permanente as a nurse midwife. Her time away from NUNM didn’t last long, however. When the position of Chief Medical Officer at NUNM became vacant, Dr. Henriksen stepped in on an interim basis while continuing to work as certified nurse-midwife (CNM) at Kaiser. The three-month-long interim position eventually became 18 months, during which time she trained a CMO successor.

Dr. Henriksen accepted the role of president of NUNM on an interim basis in October 2020 and moved full time into her new role in January 2021. She is passionate about integrative medicine and evidence informed practice.

Rep. Tawna Sanchez
District 43, Portland, State Representative (D), Director of Family Services at Native American Youth and Family Center

Representative Tawna Sanchez has spent her life working to strengthen our community. Tawna is Shoshone-Bannock, Ute and Carrizo and grew up in Portland, and for many years has been a leader fighting for the rights of women, indigenous people, and the most vulnerable. As the Director of Family Services at the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA), Tawna helped create the Early College Academy, expanded early childhood services, affordable housing development, elder support, and assisted in building a nationally recognized domestic violence wrap-around service model.

Over time, Tawna has helped raise 18 foster kids, and has been active in state policy making – serving on the Family Services Review Commission and the Child Welfare Advisory Committee.

As a state representative, Tawna remains committed to standing up for social justice on the side of the oppressed, and pushing to make our systems more equitable.