R.J. Gillespie, MD, MHPE

The Children's Clinic

Board Chair

R.J. Gillespie is a pediatrician with The Children’s Clinic in Portland. He attended medical school at Oregon Health & Sciences University, and completed his residency and chief residency at Rush Children’s Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, in 2001. He earned a master of health professions education from University of Illinois at Chicago in 2007. 

R.J. has worked on a variety of statewide quality improvement initiatives, including as the chair of the Oregon Pediatric Society’s QI Committee, the medical director of quality improvement for the Children’s Health Alliance, and medical director of the Oregon Pediatric Improvement Partnership. He has advised the American Academy of Pediatrics through the Medical Home for Children Exposed to Violence Project Advisory Committee, Resilience Project, and the National Screening Initiative and STAR Center for Screening in Practice. His current passion is studying parental adverse childhood experiences and their effects on early child development. He recently published his findings in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma and in Pediatrics.

Scott Schwab

Kyle King

Adventist Medical Center

Kyle King has been involved in health care leader for more than 16 years. Joining Adventist Health Portland in 2011, he has worked in a number of leadership roles. Most recently, he has overseen operations and market development at Adventist Health Portland. In this role he has been responsible for program growth and development with our OHSU partners as well as service-line development and COVID-19 efforts. He has been highly successful in building physician relationships and service lines to improve the financial viability of partnership. 

Rachel Banks, MPA

Multnomah County Health Department

Board Secretary

Rachael is the Director of the Multnomah County Health Department-an agency that includes the state’s largest behavioral health and public health authorities, operates corrections health, and runs the largest federally qualified health center in the state of Oregon. Rachael began her health career in behavioral health before spending 2 decades in public health including being appointed in 2017 as the Public Health Director. As Public Health Director, she played a critical role in anticipating, standing up and leading an equitable public health response to COVID-19. Her leadership and values were essential to ensuring the County’s response was grounded, from the start, in equity and data, and centered communities most vulnerable to the virus. Throughout her time at the County, Rachael demonstrated a firm understanding of the functions of the Health Department’s core programs and strong insight into how they could connect more deeply to the communities we serve.

After three years as the County’s Public Health Director, Banks went on to serve as the State of Oregon’s Public Health Director from 2020 to 2023. She was the State's first Black Public Health Director and first State Health Official of color. There, she oversaw critical stages of the State’s public health response during the pandemic. She led efforts to increase initial vaccination rates for communities of color including propelling lagging vaccination rates for African Americans adults to the highest in the Country. In addition, her work to modernize Oregon’s public health system and implement a statewide health improvement plan have been called exemplary and inspiring.

Born and raised in Portland with deep community ties, Rachael began her career as a culturally specific community health worker focused on preventing sexually transmitted infections, HIV and hepatitis. She went on to become a health educator for Healthy Birth Initiative, a program she later led, along with the Healthy Families and Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) programs.

Rachael also led many of the County’s chronic disease prevention efforts, including increasing healthy food access and implementing Oregon’s tobacco free workplace law for over 80,000 businesses. Under her leadership, the County implemented numerous culturally specific programs and strategies to decrease health inequities. Rachael Banks, MPA Rachael got her undergraduate degree from Gonzaga University and graduate degree from Portland State University. She is a proud mother, wife, daughter, sister and auntie.

Jeff Conklin, MPH, FACHE

OHSU Health

Jeff Conklin serves as SVP and Chief Payor Strategy Officer for OHSU Health. He has executive leadership responsibilities for payor strategy, managed care contracting, and the Office of Health Services which provides administrative services to value-based networks including OHSU Health IDS, the system’s Medicaid entity under contract to Health Share of Oregon, and Tuality Health Plan Services, a clinically integrated network. He is responsible for setting and implementing strategies to align with payors and employers by building and operating networks and managed care arrangements in support of the quadruple aim (i.e., improving health outcomes and patient and provider experience while reducing costs).

Before joining OHSU in 2019, Jeff served as senior vice president and Payor & Network Strategies Executive at Adventist Health for more than 10 years. Adventist Health has hospitals, physicians and health services in California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii. He is a health care executive with extensive experience in senior leadership roles for health systems, hospitals, physician groups and management services organizations.

Jennifer Burrows

Hilary F. (she/her)

NCMA

Hilary is an Indigenous descendant from Cote First Nation and Kawacatoose First Nation within Treaty 4. An Oregonian her whole life, her interest in healthcare began at a young age. Her inspiration came from her dad and grandfather, both D.O.’s who served their community for decades in their family practice clinic. Her journey in healthcare began in 2002 working as a Medical Assistant and phlebotomist in family practice. She spent some time being an end-of-life companion for Hospice clients.

Helping others by being a trusted advocate in her patients' healthcare journey has been a priority since the beginning. She has witnessed how easily individuals fall through the cracks and is driven to be part of a solution.

For the last four years, she worked in a private practice that provides care for many queer and trans patients in the community. She is passionate about accessible health care with an emphasis on finding resources and support for those with addiction issues. Hilary is serving as a CAC representative on the Health Share of Oregon Board of Directors. She lives in Portland and enjoys time with friends, traveling and creating art and music.

Katrina Holland

Katrina is a visionary who believes Oregon can be a place where all who live here can exist and THRIVE. She serves as Executive Director of JOIN, a homeless service agency dedicated to supporting community members secure permanent housing and attain stability. Katrina is deeply engaged in volunteer efforts to empower community members to make Oregon equitable for all. She’s been involved in many housing and community initiatives, including the nation’s first Preference Policy aimed at returning the Black community to their historic roots in North and Northeast Portland; Portland’s Relocation Assistance policy aimed at compensating renters’ who have been unjustly removed from their home; the nation’s first Statewide Rent Control policy; Portland Metro’s Supportive Housing Services measure that will generate several billion dollars over 10-years to help end Portland's homeless crisis; Oregon’s COVID-focused Eviction Moratorium and Landlord Compensation Fund. She serves as Co-Chair of the Board of Here Together, a member of the A Home For Everyone Coordinating Board in Multnomah County, Katrina has her Bachelor’s Degree from Portland State University in Community Development: Housing & Economic Development with an emphasis on Race, Policy, and Communications. Katrina is a mother of two children, Gabriella and Gavin, a keyboardist and singer. In her spare time, she enjoys listening to music, singing, playing piano, watching Marvel movies, and roughhousing with her babies!

Eric Hunter

Care Oregon

Eric C. Hunter is the President and Chief Executive Officer of CareOregon, based in Portland, Oregon. CareOregon serves over 550,000 Oregonians through the Oregon Medicaid program, Medicare-Medicaid Duals program, Tribal Care Coordination program and HouseCall Providers which serves members for in-home primary care, palliative care and hospice care. Prior to joining the team at CareOregon, Eric was the COO of Boston Medical Center HealthNet Plan which serves Medicaid, Medicare, and Commercial members in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Previously, he has held Executive positions with Schaller Anderson, Centene, and ValueOptions Behavioral Health. State government experience includes positions in the Oklahoma Governor’s office and with the Oklahoma Health Care Authority. Eric studied Petroleum Engineering at the University of Tulsa, earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from St. Leo University, and a Masters of Business Administration from Northeastern University. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the Association of Community Affiliated Plans and the Association of Health Insurance Plans.

Candice Jimenez

Candice is Chief of Staff at the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB), where she has supported tribal health research and policy efforts since 2013. She has a Master of Public Health degree and a strong background in data analysis, cultural responsiveness, and public health. Candice supports Northwest Tribes in their advocacy, policy research, analysis, and innovation on various health and wellness topics, including behavioral health, maternal child health, and Medicaid/CHIP.

Candice’s mission is to honor tribal sovereignty and center health equity for all people, by collaborating across land, language, culture, access, and ability. She is guided by the values of being locally rooted and community minded, as a tribal citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and a fellow community member. Candice strives to nurture healing through a community of care, where people's stories and lived experiences are heard, known, and accounted for. She is passionate about serving Northwest Tribes with health policy leadership and advocacy.

Monta Knudson

Monta Knudson Consulting 

Monta Knudson is a dynamic leader dedicated to social equity and community transformation. With over two decades of recovery from addiction, he brings a powerful voice of lived experience to HealthShare. His journey began in 2003, and he quickly dedicated his life to helping others. Starting as a recovery mentor in 2007, he advanced to leadership roles by 2009.

From 2015 to 2024, Monta served as the CEO of Bridges to Change, where he dramatically expanded housing, behavioral health, and peer services by over 1000%. His strategic foresight and financial acumen were key to this growth. Recognized for his contributions, Monta received the Spirit of Recovery Award from Fora Health and was named Contractor of the Year by Washington County.

Monta's advocacy has been instrumental in shaping legislation that positively impacts behavioral health services. He serves on the Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission, appointed by the Governor. Additionally, he provides contract and technical assistance in supportive housing across the state, leveraging his extensive experience and relationships with legislators and partners.

Outside of work, Monta enjoys racing motorcycles, surfing, and performing acrobatics. His passion for life and dedication to community well-being inspire those around him.

Holden Leung

Asian Health & Service Center

Holden Leung is CEO of Asian Health & Service Center and is a clinically trained bilingual and bicultural Social Worker. Holden joined AHSC in 1992 as a behavioral health clinician and has served as CEO since 1998, leading a period of growth including the development of an Integrated and Holistic Healthcare service model, and the opening of AHSC’s House of Love & Kindness in 2018. Before immigrating to the U.S., he worked in the Social Welfare Department of Hong Kong. Holden also co-founded and serves as Co-Chair of the Alliance for Culturally Specific Behavioral Health Providers since 2011, where he has helped spread broader recognition of the importance of culturally specific services, including services delivered in the patient’s preferred language.

Andrew Mendenhall, M.D., DABPM, DABFM, FASAM

Central City Concern

As President and CEO, Dr. Andy Mendenhall oversees all aspects of CCC.

Andy joined CCC in 2017 as Senior Medical Director for Substance Use Disorder Services (SUDS) and became Chief Medical Officer (CMO) in 2018. During his tenure, Andy has elevated and diversified CCC’s service level to offer a broad array of evidence-based practices to match client needs. As CMO, Andy brought oversight and responsibility for the agency’s medical and clinical services, provided leadership to staff, helped set the agency’s strategic direction, promoted ethical and quality care and led CCC through the COVID-19 pandemic. He became President and CEO in July 2022.

Andy is Board Certified in Addiction Medicine and Family Medicine. He graduated from the University of Portland and trained as a medical student and resident family physician at OHSU. He worked at Providence Health Systems and CleanSlate Centers, and co-founded an outpatient integrated treatment program called HealthWorks NW, which was acquired by Hazelden Betty Ford in 2012.  Andy’s heart has always been anchored in service work to the most vulnerable and simultaneously resilient members of the Portland metropolitan region.

Andy’s favorite part of his role at CCC is supporting leaders to center, evolve and scale our services to best support the needs of the clients.

Merrin Permut

Legacy Health

Merrin Permut became vice president of Legacy Population Health and Payor Strategy in 2020. In this role, she has responsibility for ensuring Legacy Health’s successful evolution into a population health management organization. She oversees payor strategy, value-based programs and performance, clinical programs and partnerships as well as Legacy Health Partners and clinical improvement initiatives.

She joined Legacy in 2010 as the administrative fellow and later moved into strategic planning and business development as a consultant. In strategic planning, she led a master facility planning process for the entire Legacy system to guide strategic facility investment.

She was part of the initial care transformation team and went on to become the first executive director of Legacy Health Partners. LHP is now 2,500 providers strong and is focused on improving health and maximizing financial performance in its value-based arrangements. She also managed the CMS initiatives beginning with Meaningful Use and more recently MACRA and bundled payment programs, which have resulted in millions of incentives for good performance.

Outside of Legacy, Merrin serves on the boards of Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon and the University of Minnesota MHA Alumni Association. She is also a certified yoga instructor.

Merrin earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and psychology and a master’s in health care administration from the University of Minnesota.

Bettyna Rosales

Virginia Garcia Clinic

Bettyna works for Lifeworks Northwest as a Behavioral Health Provider in Integrated Services with Virginia Garcia Clinic. Most of her work is focused with the Hispanic community in Cornelius, OR. She used to work as a Mental Health Provider for Child and Family Program in Lifeworks Northwest and Mental Health services for children and adults in Behavioral Health Partners in Puerto Rico. She also provided Mental Health and Evaluation services in Corrections Administration in Puerto Rico (Parole, probation and prison systems) and Corrections Program in Mexico (Prison systems).

Bettyna has a PsyD degree in Clinical Psychology and a master's degree in Systemic Family Therapy.

Mjere Simantel

Washington County

Mjere (“MĒR-ruh”) Simantel is the director of Washington County Department of Health and Human Services. Prior roles at the county include serving as the department’s assistant director as well as the supervisor for Washington County Disability, Aging and Veteran Services.

Before joining Washington County in January 2017, Mjere spent nearly eight years at Willamette View, a continuing care retirement community located in Portland, ultimately serving in the role of health care services administrator. She also spent several years with Clackamas Education Service District in various roles.

Mjere earned a bachelor’s degree in social science from Portland State University and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Michigan.

Jennifer Stacy

Kaiser Permanente

Jennifer Stacy is Vice President, Marketing, Sales and Business Development for Kaiser Permanente Northwest. In her role, she is responsible for the sales and service of medical and dental to both individuals and employers, as well as Strategic Market Planning, which includes business development, rate setting and forecasting. She joined KP in 2013 and has held progressive roles focused on the ensuring the achievement of the highest levels of customer satisfaction and financially sustainable membership growth. Prior to KP she spent 15+ years working in the ancillary employee benefits sector.

Outside of work, Jennifer is an Oregon State University Extension Master Gardener^TM, enthusiastic Portland Thorns fan, and makes a mean pot of greens.