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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2000)
Smoke Signals 4 Health Authority: commissioners focus on quality care Continued from front page across the country. They discovered that the highly successful tribal clin ics that provided the best overall quality of services to its members had a board of commissioners over see its operations. "Now, the people who manage the different programs here can receive quality time with the commissioners to talk about specific health care is sues and needs. We all are able to analyze these issues together," said Austin. Tribal member Diana George said that being a commissioner was a way for her to be directly involved in an issue she has always cared deeply about: the overall well-being of the membership. "The clinic should be about cus tomer service," said George. "It should be run in a professional manner for our members and people in the com munity. I wanted to see changes for the better, and knew this would be a way to be involved." George, a correctional counselor at Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, said that the physical and mental health of tribal members has always been a key concern of hers, and now she's happy to be part of the board appointed to address health issues. "I wanted to work to make changes for the better," she said. "The best way to do that is get involved, ask questions. I just wanted to work for the Tribe in a capacity where I'd be useful." While the Health Authority ex pects to have a busy year complet ing tasks in front of them, tribal mem bers are always welcome to attend the meetings and ask questions about health center issues. Commissioner Bernadine Shriver, also a tribal member, said that par ticipating on the Health Authority makes her feel like she is giving back to a community that has given her so much. "Though I live in Portland, I wanted to serve the Tribe. I grew up near the Tribe. Everyone on the board works well together. And that makes me feel like we are doing our membership some good," said Shriver. "I just want to help the clinic work well for everyone." Dr. Austin said he has no doubt creating the Health Authority was a good decision on the part of Tribal Council. "Basically, it all boils down to the fact that when Tribal Council decided to build a health center in Grand Ronde back in 1994, they made a commitment to tribal members and people in this community to provide quality health care," said Austin. "And the Health Authority is a way they continue to ensure that." Of the commissioners themselves, Austin says that he is looking for ward to the work they will be doing together. "These individuals have made a substantial public service commit ment here. They have a specific in terest in seeing this health center become a successful model in Indian Country." It's not an emergency but I can't wait for an appointment to be seen. What should I do?" Times arise when care is needed when your primary care provider is not available. Now, you can access the health center's triage services. Triage was designed to serve as a choice for medical conditions that need to be treated the same day. It should not be used as a substitute for regularly scheduled appointments with your primary care provider. Triage services have been added to allow for quicker access of the medical staff to walk-in patients. A triage nurse will evaluate each walk-in patient and determine what course of action is warranted for appropriate treatment. In each case the triage nurse is responsible for the initial diagnosis of the patient. It is based on her determination whether the patient will be seen by another clinician. All medical providers participate in the triage program. Each clinician has time set aside on normal work days to treat patients in the triage area. However, since the main focus of the clinician is to treat regularly scheduled patients, the times available during the day to see patients in the triage area are limited. This means that although the triage system has been designed to allow for a clinician to see a walk-in patient during the day, the clinician available may or may not be the patient's primary care provider. It is important to note that with all clinic visits (including those that are regularly scheduled), substitution of a patient's primary care clinician by another clinician may take place. Expansion of the health center now also includes areas for massage therapy and foot care. 4 - t 1 .. - . t. ' '.1 . . r t ' 4 Pictured: Shirley Walkhoff, RN; Melody Fuller, Medical Secretary; and Kathleen Marquart, PA. Grand Ronde Tribal Health Authority Board of Commissioners Sitting, from left: Diana George, Marie Davis, Bernadine Shriver. Standing: Steve Bowles, Ed Larsen, Tom Seidl, Jim Sizemore, Merle Leno. D STEVE BOWLES: Systems Engineer and Hospital Administrator with ex tensive experience in health care management. Experience in planning, orga nization, and financial management in health care organizations. Steve recently retired from the hospital administrator position at Dallas Community Hospital and resides in Salem, Oregon. D MARIE DAVIS, RN: Registered nurse with advanced training in emer gency services and advanced life support. Long-time volunteer with North west Medical Teams world-wide health care emergency services missions. Highly motivated toward community service with special interest in the Grand Ronde community. Marie was raised and schooled in Grand Ronde. She resides in Dallas, Oregon. H DIANA GEORGE: Presently employed as a counselor with 10 years of managementcounseling experience, Diana George works in a maximum secu rity institution for Oregon Department of Corrections. She is also employed as Customer Relations Supervisor at Spirit Mountain Casino since opening in 1995. She has an Associate's degree in Law Enforcement and Corrections and is cur rently attending OSU for a degree in American Indian Law and Government. D MERLE LENO: Former Chairman of Grand Ronde Health Committee, Merle Leno's experience includes prior membership on the Indian Child Welfare Ad ministration Board; prioritized budgeting allocation for Tribal Trust Fund; Health Center Accreditation Board member since 1998; former elected alternate for Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board for six years; Chairman of Pow Wow Committee for 13 years; assisted with the restoration efforts for the Tribe. He has many years experience in the health field concentrating on providing leadership and spiritual support and ensuring that fairness and service delivery are thorough and consistent. Merle has had numerous training experiences sponsored by the Health Committee related to health needs and services. 0 TOM SEIDL: Tom Seidl served over 20 years in the Indian Health Service as a pharmacist, health center director and program planning and resource allocation specialist. He has served for several years as health program plan ning consultant to the Grand Ronde Tribe. Tom has extensive experience in health program planning, budgeting and management. D BERNADINE SHRIVER: Has served as Grand Ronde Health Committee member for four years; self-employed business owner for 13 years. She has attended various courses sponsored by Council Lodge Institute and University of Oklahoma. Bernadine has a strong commitment to understanding the is sues and improvement of services to meet the needs of Grand Ronde tribal members. 0 JIM SIZEMORE: James M. (Jim) Sizemore, CPA, is a shareholder, Chief . i y-v rr i . nnanciai umcer ana licensed investment advisor with Strategic Wealth Manage ment, Inc. At Strategic Wealth Management, Inc., Jim heads up the Native American consulting division of the firm. He works very closely with tribal clients to ensure integration of financial policy and planning to support tribal financial success and provide information needed in the development of specific invest ment solutions and strategies. Jim coaches and provides training for finance officers and their staff to support development of internal fiscal management capacity. Based on his hrnari trihai PYnpripnro ho ic ralloH nnnn tr acckl" in many issues that have bearing either directly or indirectly on the finances of uiemiriDes. Ex-Officio Members B ED LARSEN OanH DnnHa -Tvm-,1 r..ii viuiw ixuiius 1 1 iuai v.uui iui O MALCOLM SNIDER, M.D. - Specialist in orthopedic surgery in private nrariro in Clnm rt.
