Fellowship Preceptors

Joe E Ness, MHA, RPh - Chief Operating Officer of OHSU Healthcare

Joe E. Ness joined OHSU Healthcare as the Vice President of Professional and Support Services in February 2013. Mr. Ness is responsible for the administrative operations of ancillary clinical services including Pharmacy, Imaging, Laboratory/Pathology, Rehabilitation Services, Transplant and Organ Procurement, Respiratory Therapy, Neurosciences Service Line, and Dialysis. Additionally, he oversees all Healthcare related food and nutrition, environmental services, facility and engineering operations. Since October, 2017, he has served in the role of Chief Operating Officer where he has executive leadership responsibilities for Professional Services, Nursing, Regulatory Services, Knight Cancer Institute’s Clinical Oncology Services, and major capital construction initiatives. Joe received his Bachelors of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Washington in 1990. He completed his Master of Health Administration from the University of Washington in 1992 along with a Pharmacy Administrative Residency.

Prior to joining OHSU, Joe was the Senior Vice President, Operations at PeaceHealth, a non-profit health care organization which operates ten hospitals in the Western United States. He is actively involved in the community. His efforts were recognized by the Washington State Pharmacy Association and Joe was awarded Health System Pharmacist of the Year.

Elaine King, MBA - Executive Director of OHSU Practice Plan, Senior Associate Dean of Clinical Practice, and SVP & Chief of Professional Practice

King earned a B.A. with an emphasis in accounting from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, an M.B.A. from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and a Consortium International Master of Business Administration at the CIMBA program in Asolo, Italy. She started her career at equity research and asset management companies. In 2005, she shifted to academic medicine, becoming an administrator at the University of Arkansas Medical School (UAMS).  Later she worked as a core team member of the UAMS hospital and school of medicine to form an integrated health system and then as an administrator of the women and infants service line.  

King was recruited to OHSU in 2017. As co-administrator of Women and Children's Services, she managed a human resources group and financial management team for more than 750 employees and a $160 million budget; handled financial reporting and analysis, systems development, process improvement; administered business development and strategic growth across partner hospitals and 20 additional contract locations; managed the research programs and had oversight of educational activities including medical student education, ACGME-accredited residency training program and five fellowship programs. She also served as an inaugural member of the Department Administrators’ Executive Committee and as a member of key institutional operations committees.

Fellowship Mentors

Erika Schouten, MHSA - Senior Director of Neuroscience & Spine Service Line

Erika Schouten joined OHSU Healthcare in 2019. She manages the operations, finance and strategic planning for the hospital service line. Erika received a Bachelor’s degree in Health Management and Policy from Oregon State University, and a Master’s in Health Services Administration from George Washington University. She completed her Administrative Fellowship at Hartford Hospital.

After her Fellowship, she served as Project Manager for Academic Affairs at Hartford Hospital. She was responsible for managing departmental staff, as well as planning and directing the administrative, financial and operational activities of the Academic and Research Departments. In 2014, Erika became the Director of the Ayer Neuroscience Institute for the Hartford Region, part of the Hartford HealthCare system. She was responsible for enhancing coordination of care, access to treatment, improving quality and safety, and developing innovative programs. 

Stephanie Schmidt (O’Brien), MS - Interim Vice President of Ambulatory Care and Access Services

Stephanie received her Master of Science degree in Health Systems Management from Rush University in Chicago, IL. Prior to graduate school, she worked at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Cardiovascular Services. While obtaining her master’s degree she completed internships at Rush University Medical Center, Brigham & Women’s Hospital and University Health System Consortium (UHC).

Stephanie served as the Clinical Enterprise Administrative Fellow for OHSU in 2013-2014. Her fellowship work led to a five-year role as Program Manager of Ambulatory Facilities Planning for the OHSU South Waterfront campus. Project work included pre-programming, developing clinical volume projections and assessing departmental growth opportunities. Stephanie became Director of Operations for OHSU’s Women’s & Children’s in 2019 and is now the Interim Vice President of Ambulatory Care and Access Services.

Current Administrative Fellows

Lexi Schuder, MHA (2023-2024)

Lexi Schuder received her Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of Minnesota. While completing her degree, she had the opportunity to work on impactful projects with many different organizations. She worked on portfolio growth strategy and patient journey mapping while interning with Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, developed a standardized format to consider healthcare equity in performance improvement projects, and helped create a growth strategy for a start-up. Prior to pursuing her MHA degree, she worked as a certified nursing assistant and clinical and admissions coordinator for a nursing education program. 

Lexi looks forward to joining OHSU as an Administrative Fellow. She is excited to learn from OHSU leaders and further explore healthcare operations in an organization with a strong commitment to its community. 

Reety Erwin, MHA (2023-2024)

Reety Erwin received her Master of Health Administration from the University of Oklahoma. During her graduate education, she completed an Administrative Internship at University of Texas Southwest Medical in Dallas, Texas, where she focused on projects related to Interventional Radiology, OR schedule optimization, and building an onboarding and retention system for the Department of Radiology. She has also led projects within social innovation and management consulting through the Ronnie K. Irani Center for Creating Economic Wealth.

Her exploration and education of leadership, communication, and inequities within healthcare have sparked her passion for improving healthcare for all. She is excited to serve as Administrative Fellow and looks forward to learning from leaders who make OHSU’s mission a reality.

Former Administrative Fellows

Michaela Katz, MHA (2022-2023)

Michaela Katz received her Master of Health Administration from the University of Utah. During this time, she interned at Intermountain Healthcare in Continuous Improvement where she worked on developing a new wayfinding approach, standardizing clinic referrals and reducing lab-labeling errors. Additionally, Michaela worked at the University of Utah Health in Telehealth & Education as a Project Coordinator where she developed and operationalized a tele-education dashboard to review growth and impact and designed an interpretive services learning module which is now used system-wide.

As an Administrative Fellow, Michaela worked on a number of projects including TEE scheduling improvement, strategic planning and implementation in cardiology & pharmacy and piloting a flexible work structure for ambulatory managers in the children's hospital as well as a handful of system-wide projects.

Post-fellowship, Michaela is excited to continue working at OHSU as a Strategic Project Manager in Doernbecher Children's Hospital where she will work with the strategy team to manage strategic projects across the spectrum of pediatric care. Michaela is originally from Northern California and outside of work enjoys exploring Portland's beautiful nature and fun food scene as well as baking. 

Justin Park, MHA (2022-2023)

Justin Park received his Master of Health Administration from the George Washington University in Washington, DC and his Bachelor of Arts in Public Health from the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. During the didactic component of his graduate studies, Justin interned at the Cleveland Clinic within the Orthopaedic and Rheumatologic Institute where he focused on projects related to patient scheduling and OR optimization and utilization. He also spent a number of years working in social services and early clinical workforce development prior to graduate school. The culmination of both his educational and professional experiences eventually led him to OHSU, where he served as an Administrative Fellow within the OHSU Practice Plan. 

As an Administrative Fellow, Justin was involved in various opportunities spanning both the inpatient and outpatient operations of OHSU Health. From conducting an analysis on access & throughput to supporting the early integration of a new enterprise-wide scheduling software, his fellowship provided a well-balanced and memorable learning experience. Justin is thrilled to continue his growth at OHSU and is now a Project Manager in Ambulatory Operations where he supports a number of initiatives focused on improving the delivery of and timely access to high-quality care.

Adeyinka Adekunle, MHA (2021-2022)

Adeyinka Adekunle grew up in Nigeria before moving to St. Louis, Missouri. He received his Master of Health Administration and Graduate Certificate in Health Ethics from the University of Missouri, Columbia. During graduate school, Adeyinka interned at University of Missouri Health Care in their Care Coordination Department. His project work included chronic care management programs, case management onboarding, advance care planning and the expansion of Post-acute care partnerships. Adeyinka's internship led him to a role within the department as a Care Transitions Resource Specialist where he connected patients with Post-acute care services. Additionally, he became a Graduate Teaching Assistant for Clinical Health Ethics.

During Adeyinka's Administrative Fellowship, he worked on a variety of projects spanning Post-Acute Care, Care Management, Acute Rehabilitation, Fertility Practice, and the Cardiac Center of Excellence. He also served as an Interim Practice Manager leading to his current role as the Practice Manager for the Surgical Specialties Timeshare, Anticoagulation Clinic, and Dynamic Endocrine Testing Unit.

Ruby Sandhu, MBA, MPH (2021-2022)

Ruby comes to OHSU from UTHealth School of Public Health in Texas, where she completed a dual Master of Business Administration and Master of Public Health with a concentration in Healthcare Administration. Before joining OHSU, Ruby served as a project manager at the University of Texas Health Science Center. During grad school, she had the opportunity to intern at Kaiser Permanente where she worked on community health initiatives for underserved populations.

As an Administrative Fellow, Ruby supported a variety of different projects related to hospital operations, strategic planning, practice management, and patient experience across the clinical enterprise. 

Madi Kireta, MS-HSM (2020-2021)

Madi received her Master of Science in Health Systems Management from Rush University in Chicago, Illinois. During her two years as a graduate student, she worked for the Obstetrics & Gynecology Department, the Emergency Preparedness Department, and the Cardiac Service Line at Rush University Medical Center. Madi's project work within these departments focused on provider incentive plans, clinical operations, process improvement, staff onboarding/training procedure standardization, and business continuity plan implementation.

Prior to graduate school, Madi attended Purdue University where she obtained a degree in Public Health. While pursuing her undergraduate degree, Madi interned in the Trauma Department at King's College Hospital in London, U.K. and the Philanthropy Department at Indiana University Health.

Madi was the first Administrative Fellow for the OHSU Practice Plan, during which she served as Site Lead for the Oregon Convention Center Mass Vaccination Site, as well as Interim Practice Manager for OHSU's Spine Center. Post-fellowship, Madi served as a Project Manager of Ambulatory Operations at OHSU. Madi is now a Practice Operations Manager for OBGYN at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

Jeremy Marks, MS-HSM (2020-2021)

Jeremy Marks grew up in Naperville, Illinois before pursuing a bachelor’s degree at the University of Iowa. Upon graduating, Jeremy worked as a Health Management Intern at New Somerset Hospital (NSH), a small public hospital that makes up part of the larger Western Cape Department of Health in Cape Town, South Africa. During his time in South Africa, Jeremy worked with NSH leadership to streamline supply chain for food and nutrition services. Additionally, he worked with nursing and clinical engineering leadership to develop a medical equipment loan registry between the various inpatient hospital wards at NSH.

Jeremy then pursued a Master of Science in Health Systems Management at Rush University in Chicago, Illinois. During his time in the Rush program, Jeremy worked at Rush University Medical Center’s ENT Head and Neck Surgery Department, Cleveland Clinic’s Imaging Institute, and Northwestern Medicine’s International Health Program. His Master’s Project focused on the implementation of medical scribes into clinical practice and the corresponding outcomes related to practice performance metrics.

During Jeremy's year as Administrative Fellow in Hospital Operations at OHSU, he served as Site Lead for the PDX Mass Vaccination Site. Jeremy now serves as the Practice Manager for International Health at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, Illinois.

Matthew Waldrop, MSHA, MSHI (2019–2020)

Matt received his Master of Science in Health Administration and Master of Science in Health Informatics from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. While in graduate school, he worked for the Office of Patient Experience and Engagement for UAB Health System. His project work included strategic development of patient experience goals for both inpatient and ambulatory clinics, as well as process improvement initiatives for nursing units. Specific project work included the valuation of a post-operative, mobile health application and strategic action plans to improve HCAHPS scores across inpatient settings.

Matt served as the OHSU Healthcare Fellow in 2019-2020, where his project work focused on project management for OHSU’s 2025 strategic initiatives. During the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, he served as the Crisis Manager for the Food and Nutrition Department, working across interdepartmental teams to mitigate concerns amongst staff. He transitioned into a permanent role as Operations Manager for Environmental Services, providing oversight to all swing and night shift teams. He is now in a Performance Improvement Consultant role for Ambulatory Operations.

Ana Reyna, MPH (2018-2019)

Ana received her Master’s in Public Health degree in Health Policy and Management from the University of California, Los Angeles. While in graduate school, she interned at the Veterans Administration Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System in West Los Angeles. Her project focused on process improvement in the operating room, specifically decreasing turn over times. After receiving her graduate degree, she worked as an Access to Care Coordinator for the Monterey County Health Department. She helped to manage various programs that were aimed to increasing access to health care services for county residents. In particular, she collaborated with multiple county, city and nonprofit agencies to launch the Whole Person Care Program. During her Administrative Fellowship from 2018 - 2019, she helped Knight Cancer Institute with their Value Stream Mapping process, assisted with one of Doernbecher Children’s Hospital contract partnership developments, and was part of the Value Based Care team to identify process improvements for the Spine and Hip Fracture bundles. Ana now serves as a Project Manager for Human Resources.

Monica Godbee, MBA, MHA (2017-2018)

Monica received her Master of Health Administration and Master of Business Administration degrees from the University of Missouri. During graduate school, she completed internships at Yale New Haven Health’s Northeast Medical Group and the Missouri Small Business Development Center. Prior to graduate school, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from the University of Miami in Florida and performed extensively as a classical cellist. 

Monica served as the OHSU Administrative Fellow in 2017-2018, where she led a portfolio of projects involving hospital and clinic operations, strategic planning, ambulatory access, cost reduction, and performance improvement across the clinical enterprise. Following her fellowship, Monica was promoted to Project Manager of Ambulatory Operations and then Operations Manager of the Office of Community Engagement and Support at OHSU. She is currently Program Manager of Operations System Performance at Kaiser Permanente NW Regional Contact Center.

Lauren Wong, MHA (2015-2016)

Lauren is from Honolulu, Hawaii and received her Master of Health Administration from The University of Iowa in 2015. Before pursing her Master’s degree, Lauren attended Creighton University as an undergraduate and completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Health Administration & Policy in 2013.

While obtaining her master's degree, she completed her administrative summer internship at Geisinger Health System in Danville, PA.

Lauren served as the Administrative Fellow in 2015-2016. After the completion of her fellowship, Lauren served as the Practice Manager of the Beaverton Clinic. Lauren has relocated and works for UW Medicine, Valley Medical Center in Renton, WA as the Manager of Specialty Clinics.

Erin Moen, MHA (2014-2015)

Erin received her Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Health Services Administration from the University of South Dakota in 2012, and her Master of Health Administration from the University of Iowa in 2014. During her time in school she completed administrative internships at Sanford Health, the Rural Policy Research Institute for Rural Health Policy Analysis and the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

Erin served as the 2014-2015 administrative fellow where her project work focused on strategic planning, business development and service line growth. She ended her fellowship with an emphasis in strategy before beginning her career as a Strategic Services Consultant, first at OHSU and later at Kaiser Permanente. Erin is now the Director of Strategy and Business Development for OHSU Healthcare.

Stephanie Schmidt (O’Brien), MS-HSM (2013-2014)

Stephanie received her Master of Science degree in Health Systems Management from Rush University in Chicago, IL. Prior to graduate school, she worked at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Cardiovascular Services. While obtaining her master’s degree she completed internships at Rush University Medical Center, Brigham & Women’s Hospital and University Health System Consortium (UHC).

Stephanie served as the Clinical Enterprise Administrative Fellow in 2013-2014. Her fellowship work led to a five-year role as Program Manager of Ambulatory Facilities Planning for the OHSU South Waterfront campus. Project work included pre-programming, developing clinical volume projections and assessing departmental growth opportunities. Stephanie became Director of Operations for OHSU’s Women’s & Children’s in 2019 and is now the Interim Vice President of Ambulatory Care and Access Services.

Adrienne Buesa, MHA (2012-2013)

Adrienne received her Master of Health Administration and Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. During graduate school, she completed her Administrative Internship at St. Francis Hospital, Franciscan Health System in Federal Way, WA.

Adrienne served as Administrative Fellow for OHSU in 2012-2013, where her project work centered on strategic planning, regulatory analysis, performance improvement initiatives, and project management, including implementation of the OHSU Knight-Legacy Health Cancer Collaborative. From 2013-2015, she served as Assistant Administrator for OHSU Hospital Administration then Manager of Clinical Integration from 2015-2018 implementing population health interventions. Adrienne now serves as Director of Portfolio and Strategic Planning in OHSU Strategic Services.

Daniel Nissen, MS-HSM (2011-2012)

Dan received his Master of Science degree in Health Systems Management from Rush University in Chicago, IL. Prior to graduate school, he was an undergraduate intern at the University of Wisconsin Hospital & Clinics. He also completed internships at Rush University Medical Center and Northwestern Memorial Hospital during graduate school.

Dan served as the Administrative Fellow for OHSU Healthcare in 2011-2012, where his project work exposed him to several operational and strategic administrative functions, including: operational contingency planning, strategic planning, cardiovascular service line management, various programmatic opportunity assessments and the management of several cost-saving initiatives. Dan followed his fellowship with six more years at OHSU, first as a Strategic Services Consultant, then as a Manager of Clinical Integration, and finally as the Director of Clinical Operations in the Department of Orthopedics. He left OHSU in 2018 to work as a Portland-based management consultant, where he spent most of his time supporting the design and implementation of value-based programs in the commercial payer setting.  Dan returned to OHSU in early 2022 as the Director of Strategy and Network Development for Women’s & Children’s Services.

Rebecca Baggott, MSHA (2011-2012)

Rebecca graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Loyola University in New Orleans, LA. After graduation, Rebecca worked as a Laboratory Technician studying the benefits of individualized cancer therapeutics. After two years, Rebecca pursued a Master of Science in Health Administration from the University of Alabama in Birmingham, AL.

While in graduate school, Rebecca worked as a Clinical Intern at Carefusion Medmined in Vestavia, AL. After graduating, Rebecca participated in the Administrative Fellowship at OHSU. During her fellowship, Rebecca helped establish a framework for regulatory-required and hospital-wide policies and completed market opportunity assessments for the Neuroscience and Oncology service lines. Following the fellowship, Rebecca returned to Alabama to become a Managed Care Specialist focused on improving payer's negotiations and performance at Huntsville Hospital.

Cody Ching, MHA (2010-2011)

Cody received his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, in 2008, before earning his Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of Minnesota in 2010.

During his fellowship year, Cody worked on a variety of projects that ranged from writing large grant proposals for Doernbecher Children’s Hospital to analyzing the impact of local hospital consolidations on OHSU’s strategic plans. After his fellowship, Cody worked as a Performance Improvement Specialist to support the hospital’s 46 operating rooms by facilitating and leading Lean process improvement initiatives for a little over two years. Following his time at OHSU, Cody moved to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) in Iowa City, IA where he was an Associate Clinical Department Administrator and Interim Clinical Department Administrator for the Stead Family Department of Pediatrics. He now serves as the Clinical Department Administrator for Emergency Medicine at UIHC.

Kristi Grace, MS-HSM (2010-2011)

Kristi graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA, before receiving her Master of Science in Health Systems Management from Rush University in Chicago, IL, in 2010. During graduate school, she interned at Rush University Medical Center for two years, in the departments of Internal Medicine, Occupational Safety, and Quality Improvement.

During Kristi’s fellowship at OHSU, she worked on projects focused on improving patient flow and the continuum of care, benchmarking OHSU’s performance to other academic medical centers, and providing strategic planning support for the Cardiovascular service line. She continued her care coordination work after her fellowship, spending four years in the department of Care Management. Kristi now works for Banfield Pet Hospital as Program Manager of Veterinary Quality.