Innovator Agents

Role of Innovator Agents

The Innovator Agent role was created in statute to be a resource to coordinated care organizations. Innovator Agents help CCOs and OHA work together to achieve the goals of health system transformation: better care, better health and lower costs.

For more information or to contact the Innovator Agents as a group, please contact Sarah Dobra, Manager of the Ombuds Program and Innovator Agents. E-mail: sarah.e.dobra@dhsoha.state.or.us, Phone 503-798-3610.

Innovator Agents

Joell Archibald

Columbia Pacific CCO, InterCommunity Health Network, Yamhill Community Care Organization

Joell Archibald

Columbia Pacific CCO, InterCommunity Health Network, Yamhill Community Care Organization

Joell Archibald has lived in the Pacific Northwest for 35 years, including two decades in Clatsop County. She’s a registered nurse who began her career in the Army. She later started her own business and served as a speaker and consultant on nurse-entrepreneurial efforts.

Joell has worked with Oregon’s first Healthy Start projects as a state assessment worker and trainer and served for the past 13 years as the administrator of three public health or health and human services departments in Washington and Oregon. Most recently, she was the Public Health Division director for three years in Lincoln County, where she helped lead the first broad community health assessment. Joell brings a wide perspective to her work, based on her experience with population health, evidence-based practices and personal knowledge of the communities she serves.

As the innovator agent for Columbia Pacific CCO, InterCommunity Health Network and Yamhill CCO, Joell feels fortunate to be serving people in the region of Oregon that she calls home. She participates in as many as six community advisory councils each month. She is a strong supporter of the local voices that are contributing to health transformation efforts. Joell is working closely with a group of Yamhill CCO partners to establish a community hub that utilizes community health workers to help residents who would benefit from individual support. She is inspired by the leadership she has observed in her CCOs, from the executive level, the boards and councils, and the local community partners and consumers.

Joell and her husband of 39 years, Lynn Archibald, are the parents of six children and nine grandchildren. She has a graduate degree in business and marketing.

Email: Joell.E.Archibald@state.or.us
Phone: 503-983-0843

Estela Gomez

Eastern Oregon CCO

Estela Gomez

Eastern Oregon CCO

Estela Gomez was raised in rural Malheur County. Prior to joining the Oregon Health Authority, Estela served as a program manager for the Department of Corrections. For seven years, Estela served as Director for the Commission on Children and Families in Malheur County. In this role she used her project management and collaboration skills to improve outcomes for children and families utilizing evidence-based research. Her expertise and past leadership roles include direct oversight for food assistance, Medicaid, and cash assistance programs for the state of Idaho.

Estela is the Innovator Agent for Eastern Oregon CCO and its twelve counties. She enjoys understanding the unique needs and assets of each community in her CCO’s region. Estela believes community collaboration is critical in addressing health transformation.

She has bachelor’s degree in psychology from the College of Idaho and a Master’s of Social Work from Northwest Nazarene University.

Email: Estela.Gomez@state.or.us
Phone: 541-969-3239

Bevin Hansell

AllCare CCO, Health Share of Oregon, Umpqua Health Alliance

Bevin Hansell

AllCare CCO, Health Share of Oregon, Umpqua Health Alliance

Bevin Hansell, the Oregon Health Authority’s first innovator agent, most recently worked as OHA’s deputy administrator for the Office of Client and Community Services and the Office of Healthy Kids. From 1993 through 2008, Bevin held positions with Washington State’s Health Care Authority, where she was most recently the director of purchasing, policy and appeals. Bevin has also served as Columbia United Provider’s director of health management, a managed health care organization serving Medicaid and Basic Health members in Clark County, Washington.

Bevin is the innovator agent for AllCare CCO, Health Share of Oregon and Umpqua Health Alliance. Since beginning this work more than a year ago, Bevin has enjoyed learning about the complexities of the health care systems that support rural Southern Oregon. Being part of two different CCO teams that have helped bring myriad Southern Oregon health entities together and seeing the collaboration develop has been incredibly rewarding, she says.

One potentially transformative project Bevin is currently working on is Umpqua Health Alliance’s non-emergency medical transportation plan. Under this plan, CCOs work closely with non-profits and state, federal and county government agencies to develop a holistic transportation solution for Douglas County residents.

Bevin lives with her two devoted dachshunds and enjoys racing her car at various motor sports events. She attended Evergreen State College and the University of the Virgin Islands, where her studies focused on marine biology.

Email: Bevin.L.Hansell@state.or.us
Phone: 503-480-4975

Belle Shepherd

Advanced Health, Cascade Health Alliance, Jackson Care Connect, and Trillium Community Health Plan

Belle Shepherd

Advanced Health, Cascade Health Alliance, Jackson Care Connect, and Trillium Community Health Plan

Belle has held the position of Innovator Agent for the Oregon Health Authority since 2013. She works with Advanced Health, Cascade Health Alliance, Jackson Care Connect, and Trillium as a liaison between the Authority, the CCOs and the community.

Belle earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Oregon and a master's degree in public health from the University of Washington. She has over 20 years of experience in public health. Before becoming an Innovator Agent, Belle was the manager of the Jackson County Public Health Division from 2011 to 2013. Before that, Belle served five years as Josephine County's Public Health Administrator.

Belle lives in Medford, Oregon, and enjoys all the bounty the region has to offer.

Email: Belle.Shepherd@state.or.us
Phone: 503-983-1929

Dustin Zimmerman

PacificSource Community Solutions in Central Oregon, Columbia Gorge, Lane, and Marion Polk

Dustin Zimmerman

PacificSource Community Solutions in Central Oregon, Columbia Gorge, Lane, and Marion Polk

Dustin Zimmerman, M.P.H., is a public health professional with experience in both the private and public sectors. His experience includes project management, operations, collaboration and policy development. Dustin’s expertise has allowed him to focus on implementing local, regional and national policy for health insurers and primary care clinics. His experience as a health care business consultant and program manager at OCHIN, a health center controlled network, allowed him to work with nearly 70 safety net clinics in 14 states. Dustin worked on projects ranging from Meaningful Use standards around emergency health records, National Committee for Quality Assurance’s (NCQA) patient-centered medical home programs and Oregon’s Patient-Centered Primary Care Home programs. His focus areas have included quality metrics, process improvement and electronic health records. Dustin brings a broad understanding of Oregon’s health care system from experience he gained at hospitals, safety net communities and elsewhere. He is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He has participated in trainings with the NCQA and the National Association of Community Health Centers.

Dustin is the innovator agent for PacificSource Community Solutions. He enjoys being out in the community and talking to people who are key to bringing better health to the Portland area.

Email: Dustin.C.Zimmerman@state.or.us
Phone: 503-983-0859