August 14, 2023 |  October 9, 2023 | November 13, 2023 | December 11, 2023

Brian Mills is the OSPA President. He has been a PA at Childhood Health Associates of Salem since he graduated in 2014. He served as a student rep for OSPA during his time at OHSU and joined the board in 2017. He initially served two years as a Director at Large before being elected President-Elect.

He has found his time on the Board to be very enlightening and motivating in his career. Seeing what the OSPA does for the profession on a legislative level is very inspiring. He also sits on the Racial Equity Task Force which allows him to participate in the important work of developing a more equitable healthcare profession for both patients and colleagues.

Alisa received her Masters of Medical Science in Physician Assistant Studies with an emphasis in research at Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona. She has practiced in family practice and inpatient infectious disease. She has served on the Arizona state association for physician assistants board. She moved to Oregon in 2017 and works at OHSU. She recently served three years as Director at Large.

Ben Johnson is the OSPA Immediate-Past President. He previously served on the OSPA Executive Committee 2004-2006 and as OSPA president in 2005 before serving again as president the past two years. He has served as OSPA chief AV technician at all OSPA conferences since 2002. He has served as an OSPA delegate to the AAPA House of Delegates for most of the past 15 years. Ben has served on various OSPA committees over the years including CME, legislative and website.

Ben Johnson currently practices in urgent care and family practice in Cottage Grove. In the past, he has practiced in ER, and extensively in treating injured workers in Oregon.

He is very committed to facilitating high quality education for PAs in Oregon and in working with OSPA and AAPA to protect and advance the ability of PAs in Oregon to care for their patients. He has been, and continues to be, a strong advocate for OTP within OSPA and the AAPA House of Delegates.

Since graduating from OHSU in 2014, Laurel has worked as a family practice PA for Oregon Medical Group in Eugene, OR. She served as the Advanced Practice Clinician Leader for 4 years and now looks forward to advancing her leadership to the state level with the OSPA Board and committees.

At work, she especially enjoys serving the transgender community and sharing puns with her coworkers. In her free time, she enjoys heist shows, finger painting, repeatedly bringing her plants back to life, and convincing her toddler to put on their socks.

Lauren Truxillo is new to the OSPA board. She has practiced family medicine in Salem since graduating from the Oregon Health & Science University PA program in 2014. She has previously served on the Evidence Based Medicine Committee for Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic and has been a clinical preceptor for many PA students from OHSU and other programs since 2016. She is a member of Health Care for All Oregon and is the provider lead for the Reach Out and Read Program at Lancaster Family Health Center. She is excited to be a part of the OSPA and hopes to keep Brian in line.

Heather Robbins is an OSPA delegate to the AAPA House of Delegates. She works as a surgical PA at Adventist Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. She graduated from Nova Southeastern University PA program in 2016. She has worked in both inpatient and outpatient medicine as a PA. She has been a member of the OSPA CME Committee since 2017.

She is excited to represent Oregon PAs at the AAPA House of Delegates. She has volunteered in public affairs in the past and is looking forward to getting back into the fray to represent our professional interests.

In her spare time she cooks, bakes and chases after her two boys and crazy dog, when she's not napping, of course.

Russel Wimmer currently works as an actively practicing PA clinician for Samaritan Medical Group in Lebanon Oregon; splitting his time between rural internal medicine, with an emphasis in serious persistent mental health, and addiction and recovery, providing medication assisted therapy services.

In his free time, his wife(also a practicing PA), 10 month old daughter and he enjoy traveling, restoring their classic 1955 pickup truck, kayaking, and most outdoor activities. They currently have 6 chickens that patrol our property. And enjoy frequenting their family cabin in the Swan Valley of the beautiful Big Sky Montana.

Lillian graduated from Northeastern University with a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies in 2006. After graduation she practiced family medicine in Seattle before relocating to Hawaii where she worked in endocrinology and internal medicine. During her five years of practice in Hawaii, she also served as a sub-investigator in clinical drug trials and became a Certified Diabetes Educator.

After moving to the UK in 2013, she joined the team of PA educators at St. George’s University of London and practiced family medicine in Southern England. Currently, Lillian is the Director of Academic Education and Assistant Professor in the Oregon Health & Science University PA program. She also works with İSalud! providing care to Oregon’s vineyard workers.

Courtney Lauer - OHSU 2nd year

Megan Pearlman - OHSU 1st year

Nellie Suto - Pacific 1st Year

Cassidy Berg - Pacific 2nd year

Jocelyne Blanco - George Fox 2nd year

Sam Packham - George Fox 1st year

Heather Robbins (Chief Delegate)

Ben Johnson

Alisa Gifford

Saje Davis-Risen

OSPA Committees 

The OSPA membership and Communications Committee is responsible for increasing membership numbers in OSPA as well as communicating with the members. Much of the success of OSPA is dependent on membership numbers. This, as well as the fall conference, generate the greatest revenue for the organization and allows OSPA to be successful on the legislative level as well as offer more fun opportunities to the members.

The committee created a fun networking opportunity for members called Sips and CME in 2020. These occur the first Wednesday of each month and cover one JAAPA article. This is an opportunity for members to get some Category 2 CME but also a chance to meet other colleagues and share experiences.

The committee also started monthly OSPA Chats in order to keep the membership informed on what is happening in the organization and how they can be further involved or assist.

The Government Affairs Committee is an active group of PAs across practice settings with an interest in engaging with legislative and regulatory agencies about topics relevant to PAs and the profession. The committee works closely with OSPA’s board and legislative affairs staff (lobbyists) to monitor political trends and to effect changes benefiting the profession and patients.

The OSPA Racial Equity Task Force works to close an equity gap that is pervasive in healthcare as well as in the PA profession. This committee provides professional development opportunities for OSPA members to further increase their understanding of racial health disparities.

The Task Force focuses on community outreach to promote the profession to diverse Oregonians who may otherwise not have been aware of the PA profession. The Task Force also actively interacts with PA schools in Oregon in order to provide mentoring services to prospective PA students who may request it.

The Task Force understands the intersectionality of this work and is committed to eliminating barriers for our patients and colleagues.

The CME committee is responsible for organizing and developing the Fall CME conference that OSPA hosts each year. This committee works closely with OSPA’s management company to recruit speakers and create the conference schedule. The committee also helps with marketing to members to increase registration.