COMMUNITY PRIMARY CARE CHAMPION FELLOWSHIP

cpcc fellows 2022-2023

Jillian atherton, Ed.D. LPCC

Clinical Site and Title: Director of Behavioral Medicine, Core Faculty – Mercy Health Anderson Hospital Family and Community Medicine Residency Program

A primary motivation for interest in this fellowship includes my desire to prevent and treat mental health conditions for all people within my service community and as far as the family and community medicine program that I serve extends. As the only Director of Behavioral Medicine in a Family & Community Medicine residency program in the Anderson Township, located in Cincinnati, OH, I am in a unique position to provide patient services, as well as to serve as core faculty to our 8-8-8 resident cohort and its faculty. This permits me to educate, provide advocacy, lead, and conduct research with residents, physicians and other providers within our interdisciplinary healthcare team in the area of Behavioral Medicine.

I am the only behavioral provider in our residency program so this fellowship would enhance our practice's identity, presence, and services to the patients in our service area. As a new program, our community continues to learn about our practice's presence and many services.

This fellowship provides an andragogical design that intentionally positions me to continue developing a service relationship with our residency program and community, while professionally allowing me the privilege to 'get to know' our community more in-depth, and understanding its unique needs. Family Medicine is tailored as a specialty to meet various community needs, and this fellowship permits a proactive leadership approach to further embed our practice's and program's services within the unique frameworks of our community.

Jen garrett, MPAS, PA-C

I am the Clinical Director for the Mount St. Joseph University Physician Assistant Program. I have clinical experience in oncology, gastroenterology, solid organ transplant and am currently clinically practicing in primary care at the Good Samaritan Free Health Center in Price Hill. I graduated from Butler University with my Master’s degree in Physician Assistant Studies in 1999.

I chose to be part of the fellowship to continue to increase my knowledge base in the various aspects of focus for the fellowship, most predominantly medical education as well as quality improvement. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to learn about the various resources in the Greater Cincinnati region and with my MSJ co-fellows, share these resources with our students.

In my free time, I love reading historical fiction, listening to podcasts, and travelling with my husband and daughter. We also have a dog, special needs guinea pig and 4 chickens that provide plenty of entertainment.

Teresa Groh, MPAS, PA-C

I am one of the principal faculty in the Mount Saint Joseph University Physician Assistant Program.  Using my background as a Family Medicine physician assistant, I am able to incorporate clinical experience into teaching Principles of Medicine, which covers a wide range of diseases. I have been employed at a Family Medicine office in Hamilton, Ohio, for almost 10 years, and continue to enjoy working there clinically. I graduated from the University of Toledo where I earned my Master’s degree in Physician Assistant Studies in 2011.

I chose to be part of the fellowship to further increase my knowledge and skills to address barriers that people face when seeking health care, while also focusing on provider well-being and health.

In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my husband and three children. We enjoy travelling and exploring new places. One of our travel goals is to visit all of the U.S. National Parks.

Megan Pater, MPAS, MA, PA-C

Megan serves as the academic director and admissions chairperson for the Mount St Joseph University PA program in Cincinnati, OH. Upon graduating PA school from Kettering College in 2017, Megan started practicing in community behavioral health and have since transitioned to working in outpatient orthopaedic urgent care clinic in 2019. Most of her lectures cover content related to these two specialties. She enjoys learning new ways to help her students recognize their abilities and passions. Some of her hobbies include decorating, traveling with her husband, and playing with her three children.  

michael putnam, md

My name is Michael Putnam and I am core faculty with the The Christ Hospital / UC Family Medicine Residency Program with my clinical time primarily attending on the inpatient service and also precepting in the residency outpatient clinic. I also have various roles within the residency including onboarding, conferences coordination, and mentorship and ILP programs. 

I chose this fellowship to gain new skills and knowledge for the care of complex and vulnerable patients in our health care system.  Additionally, the ability to learn with other fellows from different institutions and experiences was to be an invaluable resource.  Lastly, this fellowship offers the opportunity to push myself on project development and implementation. Needless to say, I'm 3 years into being an attending and this is the perfect this to help me progress now that I'm comfortable post residency! 

My plans post fellowship are to implement these skills and pieces of knowledge into further leadership and advocacy for my residents as well as patients in my clinical care. 

cpcc fellows 2021-2022

Carissa Allen, PA-C

I am a primary care physician assistant employed by a family medicine office in Belmont, Ohio. I earned my Master’s degree in Physician Assistant Studies from Marietta College in 2012.

Being a part of this fellowship felt like the right decision for me to help advance my current practice. I am especially interested in increasing my knowledge on mental health, especially given the limited resources we have available in my area of work.

I am also interested in provider well-being and I feel this is an area that is not often addressed. I am hoping to expand my knowledge so I can be a bigger advocate for myself and my peers.

In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my husband and my children. We are currently expecting our 3rd child at the end of July.

Mark Hoelzle, MD

I moved back to Cincinnati and joined the UC Health practice at Tri-County in January of 2019. I chose this fellowship because I am interested in learning more about the dynamics of delivering excellent care while preventing physician burnout and promoting provider well-being. I hope to use this information in my own practice but also champion it with UC Health as well.

cpcc fellows 2020-2021

Emily Hatfield, PA-c, mpas

Emily Hatfield has been providing inpatient care as a hospitalist physician assistant since earning her Master’s of Physician Assistant Studies at Ohio University in 2017 as part of their inaugural class. She works at both Riverside Methodist Hospital and OhioHealth Rehabilitation Hospital in Columbus, Ohio as part of the MedOne Hospital Physicians team. Prior, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Capital University in 2014. 

Being part of the CPCC Fellowship felt like the “next step” for Emily as she considers herself a lifelong learner and had been looking for an opportunity to broaden her horizons. Emily has a goal of teaching students one day, both in and out of the classroom, and has a desire to better serve her patients by identifying needs and assisting in resource connections. Emily is very excited to be a catalyst of change in her practice. 

Emily is very passionate about her career, but in her free time, she enjoys reading, relaxing with her cat Rue, spending socially distanced time with friends, and visiting her family in Northwest Ohio.

Natalie Ball, PA-C

Natalie Ball is a primary care physician assistant employed by a community hospital in Belpre, Ohio. She earned her Master’s degree in Physician Assistant Studies from Marietta College in 2012.

The opportunity to learn more about treating and combating substance abuse is of special interest to her due to the devastating impact the opioid epidemic has had on southeast Ohio.  Natalie is a Yoga of 12 Step Recovery leader and teaches at two residential treatment centers.   

Provider wellness is also of interest, as Natalie aims to integrate her training as a yoga teacher and Lifestyle Medicine Professional to help improve the wellbeing of her patients and colleagues. 

In her free time, Natalie enjoys traveling with her husband and two dogs.  They also own and operate an organic market garden farm.

Christine Furgason, MD

Dr. Christine Furgason is a family physician and the Women's Health Director at Crossroad Health Center, a local community health center in Cincinnati, OH. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and then completed her residency in family medicine at The Christ Hospital. Dr. Furgason is passionate about providing fair and equitable healthcare to the poor and marginalized. She also has a special interest in women's health and oversees Crossroad's expanding prenatal care program.

Dr. Furgason chose to participate in the fellowship because she has seen firsthand some of the inefficiencies in our current healthcare system and is searching for innovative ways to improve health equity and health professional wellbeing. She hopes that the fellowship will build upon her current knowledge of quality improvement while also shining a new light on her personal well being. 

Outside of her clinical responsibilities, Dr. Furgason enjoys spending time with her husband and two boys, cooking, running and serving in her church.

Jeffry Ushupun, MD

Allison Ng, MD

Dr. Allison Ng is a family physician at Crossroad Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Cincinnati, OH. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and completed her family medicine residency at The Christ Hospital/University of Cincinnati. She is passionate about providing high quality care to vulnerable populations and is especially interested in immigrant and refugee care.

She is participating in this fellowship to enhance her knowledge of quality improvement to provide better care for her patients and to be able to improve quality of care in her organization, as she believes a rising tide lifts all boats. She also hopes that quality improvement efforts will help take some responsibility off individual providers and place more responsibility on the system to improve provider work/life balance. After fellowship, she would like to pursue a QI leadership role within her health center.

Dr. Ng stays well teaching Zumba and hanging out with her husband and two loveable pit bulls. She can’t wait to hang out with her large extended family again when the COVID situation improves.

cpcc fellows 2019-2020

lauren wang, md

Dr Lauren Wang is a family medicine physician and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Cincinnati. After graduating from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, she completed her residency at The Christ Hospital/University of Cincinnati Family Medicine Residency Program. Her primary interest is caring for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She sees a significant number of patients with Down Syndrome, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, and rarer genetic syndromes. She also helps run UC Health's Transition Care Clinic which assists patients with complex medical conditions transition from pediatric to adult care providers. 

Dr. Wang chose to participate in this fellowship to improve her skills as an educator. As an Assistant Professor at the College of Medicine, it is her goal to design curriculum enhancements to better educate future physicians in caring for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

Aside from her clinical work, she enjoys spending time with her husband and three children.

ruby huang, pa-c, mph

Ruby Huang is a primary care physician assistant currently practicing at University Health Services (UHS) at University of Cincinnati. She is a graduate from the dual degree program in Public Health and Physician Assistant Studies at Arcadia University.

Since moving to Cincinnati and practicing at UHS, she has developed a strong interest in college health and wellness. She is planning to use the knowledge and skills learned from this fellowship to improve both as a clinician individually and to bring ideas and potential improvement to her clinic site and local campus community.