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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 2020)
PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID PORTLAND, OR PERMIT NO. 700 Holiday photos — pgs. 8-9 January 1, 2020 o s i g n k • l z s N f Smoke Signals U M P Q U A • M O L A L L A • R O G U E R I V E R • K A L A P U YA • C H A S TA An Independent Publication of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde • Smokesignals.org Empey working to increase number of Native physicians By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor or Native American patients, the chances that their doctor would be a Native Amer- ican or Alaskan Native were never good, but over the last decade those chances have gotten worse. According to statistics compiled by the As- sociation of American Indian Physicians, the percentage of Native American and Alaskan Native students in medical school As a Grand decreased from Ronde Tribal 0.39 percent in member who is 2006-07 to 0.2 percent in 2017- a doctor, Empey 18. says she hopes In 2016, there she can be a role were only 935 model for young- Native registered nurse graduates er aspiring nationwide, a Native Ameri- slight decrease can and Alaskan from earlier Native medical years. To combat the school students. declining number of Native Ameri- cans entering health care professions, the North- west Native American Center for Excellence at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland was formed as a collaboration between the school, Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board and Portland State University. Tribal member Allison Empey, who works at the Tribal health clinic part-time as a pedia- trician, is the deputy director of the Center for Excellence, which is made possible through a five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, OHSU School of Medicine and the support of all 43 Tribes in the Pacific Northwest. F See EMPEY continued on page 6 Photo by Timothy J. Gonzalez Caroline Suiter is the new Behavioral Health administrator for the Grand Ronde Health & Wellness Center. New Behavioral Health administrator seeks to support program, providers Danielle Frost Smoke Signals staff writer T he Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde has its first Behavioral Health administrator. Caroline Suiter, 41, began working for the Tribe in November. The new position was created as part of a reorganization within the program. “This position will support our providers and program so that our providers can focus on great patient care,” Health & Wellness Center Business Office Manager Tresa Mercier says. “I think Caroline’s experience and education makes her a great fit for the Behavioral Health program. She has a calm- ing energy about her with fresh ideas and See HEALTH continued on page 5 Tribal Council sells, buys land in Portland metro area By Dean Rhodes Tribal Council approved purchasing this 20,000-square- foot lot on Southeast 82nd Avenue in Portland. The purchase price and intended use for the property were not disclosed. Smoke Signals editor ribal Council approved the sale of 4.67 acres of the for- mer Multnomah Greyhound Park in Wood Village and the purchase of property along 82nd Avenue in Portland during its Wednesday, Dec. 18, meeting. The sale of a portion of the former 31-acre Greyhound Park, which the Tribe purchased in December 2015, will be to the city of Wood Village and involves wetlands that cannot T Photo by Timothy J. Gonzalez be developed because of a conser- vation easement. Tribal Lands Manager Jan Mi- chael Reibach said during the Tuesday, Dec. 17, Legislative Ac- tion Committee meeting that the property is being sold at fair market value and will benefit whomever eventually develops the property. After purchasing the Greyhound Park property, the Tribe paid to See LAND continued on page 7