8
S moke S ignals
DECEMBER 1, 2015
Changes at the Health & Wellness Center
Three new employees
changing face of local care
By Brent Merrill
Smoke Signals staff writer
Myriad changes at the Grand
Ronde Health & Wellness Center
could translate into better health
care for the Tribal membership in
the near future.
New Health Services Executive
Director Kelly Rowe, who started
on Monday, Nov. 9, has worked
in health care since 2002. She is
a Tribal member and has been a
member of the Tribe’s Health Com-
mittee since June.
New medical provider Dr. Paul
Vitt, who started on Friday, Sept.
4, has 35 years of medical practice
experience. He worked with the
Confederated Tribes of Siletz In-
dians, the Quinault Indian Nation
and the Nez Perce Tribe before
coming to Grand Ronde.
New Behavioral Health Director
Jan Kaschmitter has been in Grand
Ronde for more than five years as
a mental health counselor and in-
terim Behavioral Health director.
“Jan brings a lot of experience
to our program and we are excited
to have her serve in this position,”
said Tresa Mercier, the Health &
Wellness Center’s Business Office
manager. “She (Kaschmitter) seems
like she is really eager to help.”
Mercier said there will be a re-
newed effort to build the Behavioral
Health program back to previous
staffing numbers. Kaschmitter will
eventually work with a full staff of
behavioral health counselors and al-
cohol and drug counselors, she said.
The Tribe’s Behavioral Health
program is a fully integrated outpa-
tient mental health and alcohol and
drug assessment and treatment
program licensed by the state of
Oregon.
“Her (Kaschmitter’s) thoughts
about treating the youth and in-
cluding the whole healthy lifestyle;
I think she is really good with that,”
said Mercier. “And she’s good with
the whole holistic part of the Health
& Wellness Center. We should be
working all together.”
Kaschmitter, who is an Army
veteran who spent five years as a
communications specialist, said she
made a decision in her mid-30s to
do something that she had always
wanted to do and that was begin a
career helping people. She said now
that she’s the program director, it
will be the best of both worlds.
Kaschmitter holds a master’s
degree in Clinical Psychology from
Eastern Washington University
and is a licensed master’s level cli-
nician in Washington and Oregon.
She said she can run the program
and have the oversight she needs to
be effective, but also maintain the
one-on-one moments she gets with
patients.
“I love it and I have a passion for
it,” said Kaschmitter. “This is the
best opportunity ever. It’s just very
exciting. It feels like everything is
coming together now.
“I’m really optimistic about be-
ing able to rebuild the team. It’s
important for the community. It’s
important to have a healthy com-
Kelly Rowe
Jan Kaschmitter
Dr. Paul Vitt
munity and to offer those services
in the community. I want to be able
to provide the best services possible
to the people I see and that’s always
been very important. We can heal.
We can help the younger generation
move forward.”
General Manager David Fuller-
ton said the fact that Kaschmitter
has already been in the community
for some time will be a big help.
“She has a feel for the mem-
bership and she has had enough
time to know what the community
needs so she’ll be a good fit,” said
Fullerton. “I think it will be a good
time for her to build a program. She
has a good opportunity to build a
team that meets the needs of the
community. I think she’ll do well.
She’s connected.”
Kaschmitter, who has been mar-
ried for 38 years and has four chil-
dren and one grandchild, said the
behavioral health work is tough,
but rewarding.
“Being a therapist is very much
an opportunity and it’s an honor,”
said Kaschmitter. “When someone
comes into my office, I’m walking
with them on a sacred journey. I
feel very connected with being here.
It’s very rewarding and I feel very
honored that I’m allowed to be here.
There is a huge sense of fulfillment.
We are all in this together.”
The Tribe’s Health & Wellness
Center also offers other services,
such as medical, dental, optometry,
community health, adult foster
care, speech and language pathol-
ogy, and a pharmacy.
Rowe said mental health services
are key to making the clinic more
of full-service provider by treating
a whole patient.
“The holistic approach isn’t just
your physical health,” said Rowe.
“The reality is this is part of your
health. I’m not afraid to support the
meaningful things that need to hap-
pen for us to feel comfortable going
to seek any kind of health care that
we need and doing it right here in
one place.”
Having everything all in one place
is nothing new to Vitt, who spent
25 years providing family care in a
busy hospital southwest of Phila-
delphia, Pa., in a city called Media.
Vitt, who specializes in family
medicine, said he feels at home in
Grand Ronde.
“The Tribal members and the
clinic itself, it’s been such an uplift-
ing experience,” said Vitt. “There
have been a lot of positive attitudes
and everyone has been very wel-
coming. The members have been
outstanding. From almost day one
they made me feel like I was part
of the family.”
Rowe said she was “incredibly
excited” to hear Vitt was here and it
made her “feel good” to know he has
worked in Indian Country before
coming to Grand Ronde.
“Understanding Tribal culture
is greatly important. It’s that re-
spect for everyone,” said Rowe. “If
you can find people that are truly
passionate about it and they are
champions for it, that’s when you
get the right mix. You get the peo-
ple that are willing.”
Vitt graduated from Philadelphia
College of Osteopathic Medicine,
interned at Delaware County Me-
morial Hospital and did his resi-
dency at Hahnemann University
Hospital at Drexel University. He
said his time at the Nez Perce Tribe
in Idaho was rewarding.
“It was a great experience. I re-
ally got to know folks,” said Vitt.
“The only thing that pulled me
away was an opportunity to live on
the Oregon Coast and I had always
wanted to do that.”
After working for the Siletz Tribe
and then spending some time on
the Washington coast with the
Quinault Nation, Vitt found out
about the opportunity to work in
Grand Ronde.
“I absolutely love the people I’m
working with. It’s a good team,”
said Vitt. “I think that it (the Grand
Ronde Health & Wellness Center)
is really on the road to being a
premier medical facility. I think it’s
going in the right direction. I think
it’s going to work out real good.”
Vitt, who has three adult children
and two grandchildren with his wife
Beth, said his personal values match
the traditional values of the Tribe.
“I’ve become interested in cultur-
al ways,” said Vitt. “In particular,
I love the way there is respect for
Elders. I just wish that our society
as a whole could adopt that attitude
that our Native Americans have
here in the Northwest.
“The other thing that I thought was
really endearing and wished that I
had been a part of it is that being a
Tribal member you have a sense of
belonging; a cause that’s bigger than
yourself. I just think it is something
special to belong to a Tribe.”
Vitt currently lives in West Sa-
lem and said he would like to buy
a home and retire in Oregon.
“This is where I want to be,” said
Vitt.
Vitt enjoys woodworking, hunting
and outdoor photography in his
personal time. He has won people
over in Grand Ronde with a caring,
comforting demeanor.
“He’s really humble. He’s really
helpful,” said Mercier. “I feel like
he has the patient’s best interest
in his heart. That really seems like
that is where he is coming from.”
Rowe has experience as a clinical
analyst and coordinated compensa-
tion and benefits for Mercy Medical
Center, has been a financial man-
ager for Centennial Medical Group
and most recently worked as a
transformation portfolio manager
for Umpqua Health Alliance, all in
Roseburg.
“After I got into health care I al-
ways thought ‘wouldn’t it be great’
to come back and to give back to the
Tribe because they supported my
education,” said Rowe, who earned
a master’s in Business Administra-
tion and Health Care Administra-
tion from Marylhurst University in
Portland and a bachelor’s degree
in Business Administration and
Accounting from Eastern Oregon
University in La Grande.
“To be able to give back and be
part of the community, to feel more
involved, it’s been pretty important
to me,” said Rowe. “I’m here. This
is it. This is the dream. I’m really
excited to be here and to dig in.”
“Kelly is a Tribal member who
brings a wealth of knowledge and
experience to the position,” said
Fullerton. “It’s an opportunity
to have a clinic director that has
experience supervising doctors,
has clinic experience and has ex-
perience working with the Oregon
Health Plan. It’s an opportunity to
have a director that has experience
in the medical field, working with
providers and also the business
side. She has a good opportunity to
grow with the clinic. We’re excited
about having her.”
Tribal Council Chairman Reyn
Leno said he “loves” the fact that
Grand Ronde now has a Tribal
member in charge at the Health &
Wellness Center.
“She clearly understands the
mission of the Tribe, but she also
See CLINIC
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