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Holiday photos
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January 1, 2020
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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