(The Three Sisters Rural Track Program is welcoming three new residents to Madras this week, from left, Drs. Nathaniel Cheney, Jolene Gremel and Patrick Roach | Photo courtesy of Mosaic Community Health)
The Three Sisters Rural Track Program (RTP) is welcoming three new residents to Madras this week, where they will continue their training with a focus on rural family medicine and provide care for up to 1,200 patients a year in local primary care clinics and at St. Charles Madras.
Drs. Nathaniel Cheney, Jolene Gremel and Patrick Roach spent the first year of their residency in Portland, training at Oregon Health & Science University and will now spend two years training and caring for patients in Jefferson County. The Three Sisters RTP is sponsored by OHSU and is the first graduate medical education program in Central Oregon.
“It is thrilling to see the residency program taking off and helping serve our community now and into the future. This new class of residents joins our two existing residents, who are now in the final year of training in Madras,” said Dr. Jinnell Lewis, RTP director and St. Charles family doctor.
Dr. Cheney, who grew up in Bend and attended Walla Walla University and Loma Linda University School of Medicine, will be serving at St. Charles Family Care in Madras. Dr. Gremel, who attended Baylor University and OHSU, will serve patients at Mosaic‘s Madras Health Center. Dr. Roach, who attended California State University, Chico, and Touro University California, will serve patients at St. Charles Family Care in Madras.
“We look forward to welcoming Dr. Gremel to our team at Mosaic,” said Dr. Katie Snyder, clinical medical director for Mosaic’s Madras Health Center and residency program teaching physician. “The residency program significantly increases access to excellent and comprehensive primary care for local residents, and we are proud to be a part of it.”
All three doctors conduct rotations at the hospital and with area specialists where they train in family medicine, family birthing, emergency medicine, behavioral health and hospital medicine. They will also have learning opportunities at the Indian Health Service’s Warm Springs Health and Wellness Center.
Research has shown that about 55% of physicians stay within a 100-mile radius of their residency site. This means, within 10 years, Three Sisters RTP is estimated to produce more than 20 physicians who would reside in Central Oregon and provide care for 20,000 to 40,000 patients in the region.
Learn more about Three Sisters RTP.
About St. Charles Health System:
St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, owns and operates hospital campuses in Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond along with primary and specialty care clinics throughout the Central Oregon region. St. Charles is a private, nonprofit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 5,600 caregivers. We proudly partner with our local medical community to provide a wide variety of health services.
About Mosaic Community Health:
Mosaic Community Health is a nonprofit community health center that serves Central Oregonians from all walks of life. Through a network of more than a dozen clinics across the region, we offer integrated health services that address each patient’s medical, dental, behavioral health, nutrition and medication needs. Our care is never influenced by how much money our patients make, what language they speak or the status of their insurance coverage. Mosaic Community Health provides quality care for all.
