Conference Speakers

Bryan Warner, Deputy Principal Chief​ of the Cherokee Nation
Presenting: Welcome Keynote

Bryan Warner was reelected in 2023 as the Deputy Principal Chief after previously being elected in 2019. Before becoming Deputy Chief, he represented District 6 on the Council of the Cherokee Nation. In his current role as Deputy Chief, he has been a strong advocate for cultural and language preservation, workforce training and personal and family wellness. A former educator, Deputy Chief Warner has helped secure more educational opportunities for Cherokees across the country, including higher education scholarships, public school support, STEM access and early childhood development. He is actively involved in the tribe's rural economic development efforts and serves as co-chair of the Tribal Advisory Committee for the Center for Disease Control, where he has championed increasing programs and services related to behavioral health and addiction services.

Bryan Warner resides in Sallisaw with his wife Maco and their three sons.
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For more information and updates, you can follow Bryan Warner on his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DeputyChiefWarner

Dr. Natasha Bray
Presenting: Keynote

Dr. Natasha Bray, D.O., MSEd, graduated from OSUCOM in 2003 and is board certified in Internal Medicine and Addiction Medicine. Dr. Bray joined OSUCHS in 2017 to oversee accreditation and help establish the Cherokee Nation campus. In addition to more than 10 years’ experience in undergraduate medical education, Dr. Bray previously served as the internal medicine program director and DIO for Broward Health in Fort Lauderdale, FL. 

Dr. Bray has a special interest in engaging medical learners to expand access to care for patients with geographic, linguistic/cultural, educational, or other socioeconomic barriers. Creating learning environments that promote sensitivity and understand of care barriers will allow for improved patient-provider relationships and begin to address the wide health disparities seen in the United States. Dr. Bray’s experience on the advisory board for the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners and at ACGME provide her with the expertise and knowledge in competency-based assessment of the medical learner at the UME and GME level. 
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Her hobbies include running marathons and triathlons. When she is not running, she enjoys spending time with her husband Matt of 25 years and two sons, Elliott 13 and Preston 11.

Stephanie Wickliffe
Presenting: Cherokee Nation 3RNET Network Coordinator Spotlight

Stephanie Wickliffe, a Cherokee citizen, is the Director for the Office of Health Professionals Recruitment and Retention with Cherokee Nation Health Services (CNHS); the largest tribally owned and operated health system in the nation. In her role with CNHS, she oversees and manages the professional recruitment, onboarding and retention efforts for all health providers at nine outpatient health centers and one hospital located across northeastern Oklahoma.  

A graduate from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Business Administration, Stephanie’s initial corporate career led her into executive leadership in human resources and recruitment with a Fortune 500 Company on the east coast, Chicago and WI. She returned home to Oklahoma to serve her community as an elected official on the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council, where she spearheaded the expansion of the Amo Health Center in Salina OK; a rural clinic serving a tri-county underserved area. She also served as Council Secretary. Ms. Wickliffe continued to work with other tribal governments in Oklahoma and California in various executive administrator and human resource roles prior to her current position with CNHS.
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Ms. Wickliffe serves on the executive board of 3RNET as the board secretary. She is on the HPSA Subcommittee with HRSA Tribal Advisory Council for the Cherokee Nation, serves on the Northeast Workforce Development Board Council and has achieved The Physician/Provider Recruitment Professional (CPRP) Certification with the Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment (AAPPR), where is also serves as a mentor for AAPPR’s Mentor Match Program. 

Ms. Wickliffe is also passionate about serving her community and mentoring Native American youth. She is an active youth leader in her local church and is as a member of Native American L.I.N.K in the Native Praise Choir, where she plays the native flute and sings in the Cherokee language as well other tribal languages.  A mother of three grown children, she enjoys the joys of being grandmother to her five grandchildren, camping trips and gardening.

Corie Kaiser
Presenting: Oklahoma 3RNET Network Coordinator Spotlight

Corie Kaiser is the Director of the Oklahoma Office of Rural Health. She joined the Office of Rural Health in 2005. Since that time, she has maintained the office’s community engagement programs as well as coordinated and maintained quality and performance improvement and financial programs to assist critical access hospitals and rural health clinics. Corie received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Central Oklahoma and a Master of Science with an emphasis in healthcare administration from Oklahoma State University. She is a member of the National Rural Health Association and serves on the Rural Health Association of Oklahoma’s Board of Directors and currently serves as treasurer for the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health. 

Corie is a native rural Oklahoman and a member of the Choctaw Nation and currently lives in Edmond, OK with her husband and two sons.

Matthew Webster
Presenting: Immigration Updates, Immigration Discussion & Networking

Matthew Webster assists employers and individuals in meeting their immigration objectives by providing trusted and compassionate counsel and by zealously advocating for clients through every stage of the immigration process.

​Matthew works in employment-based immigration and nonimmigrant visas for diverse employers of all sizes, with a particular focus on healthcare and higher education. He assists clients with family, naturalization, asylum, humanitarian immigration matters and federal immigration litigation. With extensive experience in employment law, Matthew has expertise in immigration compliance issues, including structuring and implementing policies and training on I-9 compliance. He also draws on his experience in litigation and appeals to advocate for his clients. Matthew has taught immigration law at the University of Minnesota Law School.

Kayla Hoel
Presenting: Immigration Updates, Immigration Discussion & Networking

Kayla Hoel assists employers and individuals offering strategic support and valuable insight during the various stages of the immigration process.
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Kayla’s practice includes employment-based immigration, with a focus on physicians, healthcare and investments, and also family and humanitarian-based immigration.  She has experience working with both corporate and individual clients managing the complexities of the U.S. Immigration system. 

Donald Pathman
Presenting: J1 Survey Update, PRISM Research Update

Donald Pathman, MD MPH is Professor of Family Medicine and Director of the Program on Primary Care Research at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Sheps Center is a leading center of research on the U.S. healthcare system. Among its 12 programs on research are the HRSA-funded Carolina Health Workforce Research Center https://www.shepscenter.unc.edu/programs-projects/.

Dr. Pathman’s three decades of research and evaluation have focused on bolstering the effectiveness of federal, state and organization programs intended to build and support the clinician workforce of rural and underserved communities. This has included studies of clinician satisfaction and retention, loan repayment program design and outcomes including the retention of clinicians, clinician-community relationships, access to care, health disparities, and outcomes of medical education.

David Schmitz
Presenting: Community APGAR Project

David Schmitz, MD, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences. He earned his medical doctorate from the State University of New York at Buffalo and completed residency training at the Family Medicine Residency of Idaho. He has extensive research expertise in training and retaining physicians in rural and underserved areas. He has served as the president of the National Rural Health Association and the National Advisory Council on the National Health Service Corps. Dr. Schmitz has published and presented nationally and internationally and continues active research in rural-focused health professions education and rural health issues.

Dwain Harris
Presenting: AHEC Report: Badges of Distinction; Spotlight on Oklahoma

Dwain Harris is the CEO of the National AHEC Organization, which serves the nation’s AHECs through education, advocacy, and strategic national partnerships.
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Dwain began his AHEC career as center director of the Southern KY AHEC in 2004, before beginning with NAO in 2019. As NAO CEO, he has overseen the establishment of a dozen new national partnerships, growth in federal funding, growth in networking and educational opportunities for NAO members, as well as expanding NAO membership.

Before he began with AHEC, Dwain worked in administration and marketing for rural healthcare system, and prior to that was a community journalist in rural Kentucky. He has a bachelor’s in print journalism and master’s in health administration from Western KY University. He is a past president of the Kentucky Rural Health Association and past board chair of Rural Transit Enterprises Coordinated.

Dwain lives in Somerset, Kentucky, with his wife, Julie, son Matthew, 17, and 12-year-old twins, Piper and John Parker.

Lauren Sparks
Presenting: AHEC Report: Badges of Distinction; Spotlight on Oklahoma

Lauren Sparks is the Assistant Director of the OSU AHEC Program Office at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences.

In 2019, Lauren began her AHEC career as a Program Specialist within the OSU Center for Rural Health, working alongside OSU AHEC Program Director, Nicole Neilson. She progressed within her role as Program Coordinator working with the Scholars curriculum, budgeting, networking, reporting, and Center site visits. Lauren was promoted last September to Assistant Director. She is looking forward to the continued growth of Oklahoma’s AHEC program.
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Lauren lives in Bixby, Oklahoma, and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology.

Mike Shimmens
​Presenting: 3RNET Accomplishments & Updates

Mike Shimmens is the Executive Director for 3RNET, the nation’s most trusted resource for health professionals seeking careers in rural and underserved communities. Mike has led 3RNET since 2012. Mike works with a nine-member Board of Directors, leads a staff of three, and empowers the National Rural Recruitment and Retention Network of 54 members to further 3RNET’s mission to improve rural and underserved communities’ access to quality health care through the recruitment and retention of quality health care professionals.

Mike has over 20 years of experience in the recruitment of health care professionals. Prior to leading 3RNET Mike worked for six years at the Missouri Primary Care Association as Director of Recruitment and Workforce Development. There he assisted 21 Community Health Centers and other Missouri hospitals and clinics in their health professional recruitment efforts through the Missouri Health Professional Placement Service.
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Mike's first recruitment position in health care was as Director of Medical Staff Development at St. Mary's Health Center in Jefferson City, Missouri. He served in this role for nine years and recruited for all physician specialties and advanced practice nurses at this 167-bed hospital and affiliated clinics.

Jackie Fannell
Presenting: 3RNET Accomplishments & Updates

Jackie Fannell is the Provider Retention and Information System Management (PRISM) Program Manager for 3RNET, the nation’s most trusted resource for health professionals seeking careers in rural and underserved communities. Jackie serves as the primary support contact for all PRISM participating states: providing technical assistance and training for the PRISM project and ensuring successful coordination and collaboration of project activities between participating states and the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC Chapel Hill.

Jackie has over 25 years of experience in non-profit, health care and financial industries. Prior to joining 3RNET, Jackie served as Program Manager at the Foundation for Health Leadership and Innovation and the North Carolina Medical Society Foundation where she was responsible for coordinating with the Sheps Center to pilot and then manage the ongoing collection of retention data for health professionals working in safety net practices. 
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Jackie has a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Duke University.​

Mandi Gingras
Presenting: 3RNET Accomplishments & Updates, Behavioral Health Workforce Initiatives, Marketing & Candidate Engagement Panel Discussion

Mandi Gingras is the Director of Education for the 3RNET, the National Rural Recruitment and Retention Network. The 3RNET is a non-profit organization and trusted resource for health professionals seeking careers in rural and underserved communities. Mandi provides recruitment and retention educational support to 3RNET members and safety net facilities across the nation.
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Mandi’s experience includes 14 years as the primary care and oral health recruiter and workforce consultant for the New Hampshire-Vermont Recruitment Center, a non-profit organization and service of BiState Primary Care Association (PCA). In her role at the PCA, Mandi provided recruitment assistance (sourcing, screening and referring physicians, dentists and APPs), consulted on recruitment and retention best practices, and provided J1 visa waiver and loan repayment program support to safety net facilities in New Hampshire and Vermont.
 
Mandi’s career path included a move to Michigan during the pandemic where she worked for almost two years as a physician recruiter with McLaren Healthcare System and Karmanos Cancer Institute, a large non-profit integrated health delivery system made up of 14 hospitals across Michigan and Ohio. Mandi’s work there involved recruitment of surgical specialties for the 14 hospitals, affiliated practices and cancer centers. She managed the recruitment cycle from developing job posts and marketing strategies, sourcing and interviewing candidates, to coordinating site visits and contract negotiations.
 
Mandi grew up in a small rural town in the Midwest and understands the unique challenges and benefits that rural communities offer. She is an AAPPR member and a RACR certified recruiter through the HealthcareSource and Lean Human Capital training curriculum. Throughout her career, Mandi has been passionate about developing strategies to attract and retain providers that will thrive in rural and underserved communities. She strives to continue learning new and innovative ways to recruit healthcare professionals and is excited to share these best practices and her experiences along with the 3RNET guiding principles to help others remain competitive and be successful in their recruitment efforts.
 
In her personal time, Mandi enjoys spending time with her koi pond and gardens, crafting, and taking in lake-living at her new home in Michigan.

Kristine Morin
​Presenting: 3RNET Accomplishments & Updates, Marketing & Candidate Engagement Panel Discussion

Kristine Morin is the Director of Communications and Marketing for 3RNET, the nation’s most trusted resource for health professionals seeking careers in rural and underserved communities. Kristine leads the creation of 3RNET’s communication and promotion efforts to reach health professionals, employers, and 3RNET’s Network Coordinators. 
 
Prior to joining 3RNET, Kristine worked for a public relations firm in Las Vegas, Nevada where she coordinated marketing efforts for clients varying from local firefighters to international artists. She also worked as the Communication Coordinator for the North Dakota Center for Rural Health, where she led the communication efforts for several statewide and national grant programs.
 
Kristine has both Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in communication from the University of North Dakota.

Mark Barclay
Presenting: 3RNET Accomplishments & Updates

Mark Barclay is the Director of Member Services for 3RNET, the nation’s most trusted resource for health professionals seeking careers in rural and underserved communities. Mark serves as the primary support contact for 54 3RNET members, as well as the 5,000+ rural and underserved employers across the country that use 3RNET to improve their recruitment and retention efforts.
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Prior to working for 3RNET, Mark recruited for 36 Critical Access Hospitals and four FQHCs as the Workforce Specialist at the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Mark also helped establish TruServe, a web-based tracking system used by State Offices of Rural Health and Primary Care Offices nationwide.
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Mark has maintained his Certified Physician/Provider Recruitment Professional (CPRP) certification from the Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment (AAPPR) since 2013.  Mark has both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from the University of North Dakota.

Joseph Carter, Public Health Analyst, Division of Regional Operations Bureau of Health Workforce
Presenting: Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW) Updates

Joey Carter joined the Health Resources and Services Administration at the conclusion of a 20-year military career, with five overseas deployments from Somalia in 1993 to Iraq in 2005.  During his time in the military, he served as a Senior Noncommissioned Officer in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, including three years as the Texas Army National Guard Command Paralegal Noncommissioned Officer.  Joey’s first assignment with HRSA was with the Office of Legal and Compliance in Rockville, Maryland.  For three years before coming to the Dallas Regional Office, he processed Waivers, Defaults, and Suspensions for National Health Service Corps and Nurse Corps clinicians.
 
Joey moved to the Division of Regional Operations in the Dallas Regional Office in August 2012.  Joey is the Public Health Analyst assigned as the Region VI DRO Tribal Liaison and the state lead for New Mexico and the Texas Border Region, providing recruitment and site assistance to the region.

Sarah O'Donnell, Team Lead for the Rural Strategic Initiatives, Federal Office of Rural Health Policy
Presenting: Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) Updates

Sarah O’Donnell is a Team Lead for the Rural Strategic Initiatives Division in the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP), within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). As Team Lead, Sarah helps to oversee the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP), a $500+ million initiative that just received recognition as the 2023 Samuel J. Heyman's Service to America People's Choice Awardee. Established in 2018, RCORP has provided funding to over 1,800 counties across 47 states and two territories to support substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery services in rural communities.
Outside of work, Sarah and her spouse Joshua are proud (and busy!) parents to two girls, ages 5 and 8, and fur-kid Mousse. Sarah is also a triathlete - her last race was a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 run!

Jessica Seel, Director of Behavioral Health Initiatives & Workforce Development, SCORH
Presenting: Behavioral Health Workforce Initiatives in South Carolina

Jessica Seel joined the South Carolina Office of Rural Health in 2018 as the workforce program manager. She currently serves as Director of Behavioral Health Initiatives & Workforce Development.

In her role as Director of Behavioral Health Initiatives, Jessica leads SCORH’s efforts to eliminate barriers to mental healthcare and reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness and substance use within rural communities. This work includes suicide prevention programs, and collaborations to address substance use disorder (SUD) and opioid use disorder (OUD). Jessica is the program lead for the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP), a statewide consortium of partners to integrate behavioral healthcare, primary care, and the treatment of infectious diseases associated with SUD/OUD.
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In her role as Director of Workforce Support, Jessica works to attract and retain physicians, advanced practice providers, and other essential providers to rural and medically underserved communities. She also connects students and clinicians to state and national programs that support long-term rural retention.
A Columbia native, Jessica received a bachelor’s degree in social work from Columbia College and a Master of Public Health degree from the University of South Carolina. Prior to joining SCORH, she worked in the healthcare field in various capacities including marketing, management and community education.

Judd Mellinger-Blouch, Director, Pennsylvania Primary Care Career Center
Presenting: Marketing & Candidate Engagement Panel Discussion

Judd Mellinger-Blouch is the Director of the Pennsylvania Primary Care Career Center, which is part of the Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers. The Career Center helps community health centers, rural health clinics and other healthcare organizations recruit and retain physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other primary care providers. Judd has been working in healthcare since 19686, predominantly in areas of public relations, marketing, communications, provider relations, and recruitment. Prior to joining the Career Center in March 2014, Mr. Mellinger-Blouch was Director of Marketing Communications at the Pennsylvania Medical Society, where he worked for 20 years. He started his career in healthcare as Public Relations Director for Community
General Osteopathic Hospital, Harrisburg. Mr. Mellinger-Blouch holds two degrees from Pennsylvania State University: a Bachelors of Arts in Journalism (1982); and a Masters of Public Administration with a healthcare emphasis (1998). He lives in Hershey, PA.