Provider updates

In February, we welcomed Sarah Wells to the Columbia Pacific family. Wells, who has worked for our parent company, CareOregon, for the past five years, succeeded Quinne Salameh as head of our 15-person Regional Care Team. In her newly created role, she also oversees the Sellwood (pediatric) Regional Care Team in the CareOregon Metro region.

What would you like our clinical partners to know about the Regional Care Team?

The team is so much more than a part of an insurance company.

Many of our staff either live in the Columbia Pacific region or travel there often, supporting members where they are at. Care coordination is all about connecting folks to the resources they have available, which can be services funded via their coordinated care organization (CCO) or what is out there and available in their communities. 

We strive to allow our members’ needs to drive what we do. But we also do everything we can to support our providers, who tend to have the biggest impact on the health outcomes of our members.

What do you think providers would be surprised to learn about the team?

Our staff has deep connections to the communities we serve. We have folks on the team who have worked and volunteered at the local level in many different capacities. Some team members have volunteered in the jail or on crisis response teams in their spare time. It’s also worth noting that we have team members who have worked in care coordination for CareOregon for many years. One person just celebrated their 12th anniversary!

Would you provide an example of how you have seen the team make a difference for a member and/or provider?

I recently heard about a family our team is working with where the mother was the identified member in need and assigned to one of our fantastic community-based staff to support their high level of needs.

The mother has struggles with physical and mental health. In the work the care coordinator did to explore the parent’s needs, she learned that there are multiple children in the family who may not be getting the support they need as well.

Because regional care teams are multidisciplinary, the care coordinator was able to bring in a fellow team member who is a subject matter expert on youth to consult and got another care coordinator assigned to work directly with one of the kids around their needs. While this is still an active case with a lot of moving parts, the team’s ability to bring others on board to support the whole family has been so great to watch in action.

What do you like most about your new role?

Prior to working for CareOregon, I worked in behavioral health for Washington County. In that role, I did a lot of work in supporting our behavioral health provider network, collaborating very closely with treatment teams in relational ways to address the needs of Medicaid members in the community.

Joining the Columbia Pacific team has brought a lot of what I loved about that job back for me. While I loved and continue to be tied to a lot of work in the CareOregon Metro region, I’m struck by the close relationships in the Columbia Pacific region that drive the special work being done there. I really thrive in this kind of environment.

Learn more about our Regional Care Team and how to make a care coordination referral.