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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 2007)
Smoke Signals 7 Tribe's New Nurse Navigator Is Ready To "Help People" MARCH 1,2007 By Toby McClary Tribal member Mary Loy has recently taken on a position with the Tribe's Health and Wellness Department as the Nurse Naviga tor. Loy has served local commu nities as a Registered Nurse and a Community Health Nurse for the last 17 years. Loy began working for the Tribe in mid-November and explained that she was approached over a year ago by Dr. Pratt who asked her to come aboard. After Tribal Council approved the Tribe's clinic to move forward with the naviga tor program, Loy was hired and is looking forward to working with the Tribe. "I am honored to be part of this pro gram to help our Native people and all patients of the Grand Ronde Health and Wellness Center," said Loy. As part of the Northwest Tribal Cancer Navigator Program (NTC NP), which has been operating since 2003 at the Puyallup Tribal Health Authority and the Yakama Indian Health Center, Loy helps patients who have already been diagnosed with cancer or have had an abnormal screening. As written in a description of the program by Loy,-the NTCNP is a community-based intervention addressing barriers to timely, qual- V,,., "IT" f fit JI I Tribal member & Nurse Navigator Mary Loy ity cancer diagnosis and care for American Indians. The overall goal of the NTCNP is to reduce delays of cancer diagnosis. To help with the NTCNP, native communities hire navigators to help patients through what can be considered a very hard time. The responsibilities of the navigator, in this case, Loy, is to make sure that individuals receive a proper diagno sis and cancer treatment if needed. Navigators have special training in order to help people with their can cer care. Some of Ixjy's duties as a navigator include helping patients understand cancer information, manage medications, find financial resources, find transportation or communicate with doctors. Loy explained that one does not need a referral to meet with her. If someone believes they might have cancer, receives an abnormal screening or just wants more in formation about cancer, they may contact her to schedule an appoint ment. She also stated that the program is available to all patients of the Grand Ronde Health and Wellness Center and to all Tribal members who live in the estab lished service areas of Washington, Yamhill, Polk, Multnomah, Marion and Tillamook counties and are in need of navigator services. Iioy graduated from Linfield Col lege with a Bachelor of Science and Nursing Degree. She has shared her nursing expertise with many Native communities along the way. She worked for the Confederated Tribes of Siletz at their Portland office as well as on the reservation. She also worked as a Community Health Nurse for Multnomah County and spent seven years as the Nurse Co ordinator for the Breast and Cervi cal Cancer Program at the Native American Rehabilitation Associa tion (NARA). "It was a great experience," said Loy. "I just love to help people." After her stint with NARA, she decided it was time for a change. Loy resigned from her position because she felt she needed to be home with her family more. After some time off and an offer to work on her own reservat ion, it was time for Ixy to return back to work. "Being able to give back to my peo ple in any way possible," she said, "is just a really good feeling." Tribal Member Serves As Captain Of Hockey Team By Toby McClary Tribal member Cory Bradley has big ambitions as a hockey player. Bradley, 18, has just finished his second year of playing with the Sherwood High School team. Bradley explained that he moved to Sherwood with some friends about four years ago and began playing "pick-up" games of hockey in his spare time. "The people I moved up there with were playing so I decided to play also," said Bradley. "We were playing at the Sherwood Ice Arena about four or five times a week." Although Bradley originally wanted to play in an adult league, one thing was holding him back; his age. But his age would not be a factor in one of the other leagues of the fast-growing sport of hockey which is constantly looking for bright, young talent. One of Bradley's friends was playing in a high school league, the Oregon High School Hockey League (OHSHL), and told Brad ley that he should tryout. He then met with the OHSHL Board of Directors and met all of their requirements. He went to the league's first practice and was se lected by Sherwood High School. The OHSHL season begins in September and wraps up in Febru- r ; jm ( , Hill Here, Bradley participates in the 2006-2007 High School All-Star game held at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland on January 27, 2007 before the Portland Winter Hawk game. ary with a playoff season that runs through the month of March. Bradley explained that as a sec ond year player, he was selected as the Team Captain. "There's not a big difference but I get a kick out of being the captain," he said. One of Bradley's biggest accom plishments, since becoming a hockey player, is when he was selected to play for the High School All-Star Team. He explained that three of the best players from each team in the league are selected and split up into two separate teams of which play each other in an All-Star game. On January 27, 2007, Bradley and his All-Star team played at the Memo rial Coliseum in Port land directly before a Portland Winter Hawks game. Unfortunately, Bradley's team lost that night, 7-5, but he ex plained that the experi ence was "awesome," Also, Bradley's interest in hockey carries into his occupation. He current ly works at Northwest Skate Authority (NSA) in Sherwood. NSA is a retail store located in the Sherwood Ice Arena and specializes in ice skatinghockey gear in cluding hockey sticks and skates. Bradley ex plained that he knows a lot of the Winter Hawk players on a personal 7 iv1" V! ' ' c v 1 : '' s) - . I 7 f L i r i-ii i i . h.ii i Hi r ) cl Tribal member Cory Bradley level because they come to NSA to buy their sticks. On February 19, Bradley and the Sherwood High School hockey team fell to Skyview in the first round of this year's playoffs. Unfortunately, this was Bradley's final season playing in the OHSHL due to the league's age require ments. But that does not mean that Bradley is done playing hockey. He still has high hopes to one day play for a college and maybe even play minor league hockey. "I want to play in college," he said, "because that's when you get noticed. I clon't know about the NHL (Na tional Hockey League) but I want to at least play junior hockey." D '
