Meet our Health Care Team

We have a wonderful, dedicated group of people here to take good care of you and your family.

Client Care Reps
Doctor Assistants
Certified Veterinary Technicians
Animal Care Assistants
Administration

Client Care Representatives

These are the folks that greet you at the front desk and take your phone calls. Whether you’re coming in for an appointment or with a sick or injured pet, or just stopping by to pick up some food or a prescription, we’ll make sure to take good care of you and your pet. It can be busy and hectic at times, that’s why our front staff have four arms, two brains, roller skates, and a great sense of humor to make everything run smoothly. Please let us know if you have any special requests.

	Sherri, our Office Manager, joined us in April, 1990.  She manages our staff and doctor schedule and creates our Newsletters.
	Kim F, Certified Veterinary Technician, Activities Coordinator, and Art Director, joined us in February, 1987.
	Heather B, cool under pressure and amazing on phones, joined us January, 2002.  She’s pursuing her dream of becoming a Dental Hygienist.
	Wendi, also a Certified Veterinary Technician, rejoined us P/T again in 2009.  She has graduated with a Masters Degree in Teaching and is pursuing a career as a K-8 teacher.
	Becky, our dog lover, rerejoined us in August, 2008.  She loves to make sure you and your pet receive the care and attention you deserve.
	Sara moved from California to join us.  She came on board in December 2006 with 5 years experience in the veterinary profession.
	Macie, who joined us in May 2008, is continuing her undergraduate studies and has aspirations to be an elementary school teacher or a Veterinary Technician.   She also makes regular appearances as a Doctor’s Assistant.
	Lita, a medium size dog owner, came to us in March, 2009 with previous veterinary experience.  Lita goes out of her way to make sure everyone is helped right away and our Reception area is warm, clean, and inviting.
	Stephanie works everywhere for us.  She’s at the Front Desk and has regular shifts in our Animal Care Assistant and Doctor Assistant departments.  She’s been with us since the fall of 2009.
	Melanie met us briefly as a client and had perfect timing when she asked us if we had a position open in December, 2010.  She’s a world traveler who has previously worked as a Client Care Rep in Florida and Hawaii.

Doctor’s Assistants

These are the folks that escort you and your pet to an exam room and get things ready for the doctor. They’ll take a brief history and explain some of our recommendations for vaccinations, flea control, intestinal parasite control, heartworm prevention, nutrition, exercise, pet sterilization, and microchipping. You may see them help with drawing blood, taking an x-ray, or holding your pet so the doctor can clean a wound, treat a skin condition, or check an ear problem. They also handle our prescription refill line.

	Rob, who’s great with dogs, joined us in May, 2001. He also provides dog walking and dog/house sitting services.
	Leticia, multi-talented and fluent in Spanish, joined us in December, 2003.  Soon, Leticia will be entering Nursing School.
	Ralph, who also works at the zoo in the aviary building, joined us in October, 2005.
	Stephanie, who joined us in August 2009 and is from New Hampshire, also works as an Animal Care Assistant and Client Care Representative.
	Tammy makes regular appearances in our Doctor’s Assistant shifts.  Tammy’s other job is teaching humans and their dogs to run agility together.  She also loves photography and it’s her picture of “Freddie Mercury,” her dog, on our home page.
	Cara moved from San Jose, California in 2007 and joined our team to work as a Doctor’s Assistant.  She has a special interest in feline behavior and medicine.
	Heather S came to us from the human medicine side and is eager to learn the Animal Care Assistant and Doctor’s Assistant roles. She is also preparing to become a professional photographer.  She joined us in May, 2008.
	Cassie started working at NPVH as a DA in 2006 after relocating to Portland from the east coast.  She accepted a teaching position in elementary education in 2007.  She has returned to work as a DA at NPVH and continues to tutor elementary school students.  She enjoys educating clients about their pets’ health and well-being.
	Kim S, who joined us in October, 2009, is a full-time college student planning to pursue veterinary school after graduation.  When not at school or working, she is horseback riding or playing with Samson, her Australian Shepherd.
	Macie joined us in May 2008. She is frequently found at the front desk too.
	Mindy’s previous life was in California as a hospital manager for an all cat hospital.  While with us she has been enjoying learning to speak dog.

Certified Veterinary Technicians

Did you know CVTs must attend a two year technician program at PCC or complete 4 years of on-the-job training before they can sit for their boards? We’re proud of our CVTs and we rely on them to take the best care of your loved ones in a kind, compassionate manner. They admit our surgery and dentistry cases, administer anesthesia, monitor your pet during anesthesia to make sure everything is safe, give medication to block pain, perform dentistries, draw blood, take x-rays, and talk with you, to explain home care instructions and answer any questions. As we like to say, they do it all, and then some.

	Nancy, our surgery and dental technician, has been with us since April, 1979.
	Lisa became certified in veterinary dentistry in July 2008 – one of only 2 certified veterinary dentistry technicians in Oregon. She joined us in 1989 and orders all of our hospital and pharmacy supplies.
	Amber, who also specializes in dentistry and surgery and runs our Saturday crew, joined us in March, 1990.
	Kim F, who makes regular appearances as hospital technician, DA, & front desk, joined us in February, 1987.
	Loralei, a cat lover who enjoys caring for our hospitalized patients and developing our hospice program, began with us in October, 1991.
	Jennifer, who enjoys surgery, dentistry and naturopathic medicine, joined us in July, 2002.
	Megan C, who enjoys the hospital & surgical technician role and helped develop our Quiet Room, began with us in October, 2003.
	Connie, who enjoys surgical nursing and exotics, came on board in August, 2004.
	Emily, who graduated from PCC technician school in June, 2005, began with us in May, 2005. Emily is one of our nutrition coaches.
	Leslie, who joined us in September, 2003, has a special interest in exotics – ferrets in particular.
	Megan T joined us in 2006 and is particularly interested in surgery and anesthesia.
	Regan joined us in 2006 and became a CVT in 2009. She is also our pet food specialist and orders and stocks all of our pet food.
	Heather B, who hails from Vermont, joined us in 2009 and mainly works with the urgent care doctors.
	Loni came to us from Colorado in 2009. She loves to hike and is also going to school to complete her Bachelor’s degree.  Loni started nursing school (for human patients!) in January of 2011, but still works with us when she can.
	Katie, joined us in March 2008 and graduated from the PCC Veterinary Technology Program in 2010. She enjoys our hospital and surgery technician positions and is a nutrition coach. She has a pomeranian, a Maine coon cat, and a chameleon.
	Julia graduated from the PCC Veterinary Technology Program in 2011.  When she isn’t busy working with exotics or in our treatment area, she moonlights at Dove Lewis.

Animal Care Assistants

Our Animal Care Assistants work tirelessly behind the scenes to keep our hospital looking clean and beautiful.  They are probably the hardest working folks in our hospital.  They are constantly being pulled in several directions to help assist with holding a patient, cleaning a kennel, running laundry, cleaning a dental workstation, restocking our Treatment Room, or sterilizing our surgical instruments.   It’s hard work keeping our hospital neat, tidy and fully stocked.  These folks do an amazing job, looking after the tiniest of details and keeping track of all of the maintenance projects that need to get done each day.  When they aren’t busy with all of these responsibilities, you’ll oftentimes find them assisting a Doctor’s Assistant or a Technician.

	Heather S does double time as an Animal Care Assistant and a Doctor’s Assistant.  We’ve even recruited her to help Dr Pat Frost, our dentist, and Lisa, CVT when they perform advanced dental procedures and root canals on our patients.
	Kim S also does double time as a Doctor’s Assistant. Kim loves learning all she can about veterinary medicine.  She’s gone to Alaska for a veterinary internship twice, then she’ll comes back to help us every fall.
	Stephanie has been helping as an Animal Care Assistant since the fall of 2009 and also moonlights as a Doctor’s Assistant and Client Care Rep.
	Nate S, a student at Roosevelt High School, completed his eight week externship with us in June, 2010 and then joined us as an Animal Care Assistant.  He’s a determined young lad who keeps us on our toes with lots of questions as he tries to figure out his career path:  pre-vet or technician.
	Jennifer S had been looking for a new career, when she brought her kitty in for a check up – little did she know that 40 hours of observation for the PCC technician program would lead to this! She is still working towards becoming a CVT.

Adminstration

Grant, Sherri, & Melinda round out our Management Team.

	Grant is our Hospital Administrator.  He joined us in 2001 and oversees our hiring, training, and business development.  He serves on the PCC Veterinary Technician Advisory Board and he’s a member of the Oregon Practice Manager Manager Association.
	Sherri is our Office Manager.  She does almost everything except practice veterinary medicine.  She manages our doctor and health care team schedules, helps with hiring, training and staff development, maintains our building, and creates our newsletters and brochures.
	Melinda is our Bookkeeper.  She and Don McCoy, DVM bought North Portland Veterinary Hospital in the early 1970′s.  Melinda’s worked at the Front Desk and as a Doctor’s Assistant and now spends her time paying our bills and staff.