Leadership

David Russell
President and Chief Executive Officer
Adventist Health Portland

David Russell is the president and chief executive officer for Adventist Health in Portland and oversees the network of Adventist Health services throughout the Portland, Oregon, metro area.

Prior to assuming this role, Russell was the senior vice president and chief operating officer for Adventist Health Portland. Previously he served as the vice president for marketing and business development. In that role, Russell focused on identifying and developing new business opportunities to enhance the services offered on campus and to extend Adventist Medical Center's services more fully into the community.

Russell also served as director of contracting and network development for Adventist Medical Center and Healthcare Resources Northwest (HRNW), where he managed all contracting functions with the health plans and HRNW panel of network providers; he also oversaw network development functions, medical management and performance improvement services for HRNW.

Russell holds a master's in health care administration from Loma Linda University School of Health in Loma Linda, California. He is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Aaron Poole
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Adventist Medical Center

Aaron Poole is the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Adventist Medical Center. Since assuming the role in February 2017 he is responsible for Care Management, Contracting, Finance, Information Systems, Medical Records, Patient Access, Property Management, Revenue Cycle, and Supply Chain.

Prior to assuming this role, Poole was the Chief Financial Officer for Adventist Health Ukiah Valley located in Ukiah, CA. Poole began his career with Adventist Health in 2009 working in the Internal Audit Department at Corporate. Serving in several roles within Adventist Health he has demonstrated his ability to lead highly engaged teams, streamlining processes, and achieve strong financial performance. He is a big picture thinker while maintaining a firm grasp on the details.

Poole is a CPA and holds a master’s degree in business administration from UC Davis Graduate School of Management in Davis, CA.

Cindy Nutter
Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer
Adventist Medical Center

Cindy Nutter is the chief nursing officer/patient care executive for Adventist Medical Center. Since assuming this role in January 2014, she is responsible for patient care services provided in all patient care units, surgery, cardiac cath lab, pharmacy and pulmonary medicine, as well as the support provided by clinical information systems and quality services.

Prior to assuming the role of CNO, Nutter served at Adventist Medical Center as the administrative director of all inpatient services including the intensive care and cardiovascular units, telemetry, medical-surgical, orthopedic and the Family Birth Place units. Over the previous 25 years, Nutter served as a nursing instructor in a bachelor’s degree program, managed a primary care clinic, served as a school nurse and provided direct patient care to burn and trauma, cardiac surgery, and general critical care patients.

Nutter received her Master of Science in nursing from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, and completed her undergrad work at Washington State University. She and her husband enjoy outdoor activities, from scuba diving to hiking, as well as spending time with their children and grandchildren

Dave Tkachuck
Vice President of Support Services and Business Development
Adventist Medical Center

Dave Tkachuck is vice president of support services and business development at Adventist Medical Center and brings more than 15 years of healthcare experience to this role. He provides executive support for medical imaging, rehab services, nutritional services, laboratory services, clinical engineering, safety and security, plant services and environmental services.

Prior to his role as vice president, Tkachuck served Adventist Medical Center as the administrative director of A&M, the hospitalist group at Adventist Medical Center. He has also led the Adventist Medical Center phlebotomy and lab outreach services and home care services.

Tkachuck has clinical training as a physical therapist and received his Master of Business Administration and Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of Washington. He is married and has three girls. In his spare time, Tkachuck enjoys skiing, hiking and reading.

Wesley Rippey, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Adventist Medical Center

Dr. Wesley E. Rippey is the chief medical officer for Adventist Medical Center and is a licensed medical doctor certified by the American Board of Surgery. He received his Bachelor of Science and MD degrees from Loma Linda University School of Medicine in 1976 as well as completing his surgery residency in 1981.

Here at Adventist Health, Dr. Rippey has been in private practice surgery (general surgery, peripheral-vascular surgery) since July 1981. As well as being a part of Adventist Healthstaff, he has been a board member of Adventist Health and Adventist Medical Center, a board chair of Healthcare Resources NW, board member of PELC and PLOC, board chair for AMC Foundation and chair of PAG. He has been Adventist Medical Center’s chief medical officer since 2008.

Dr. Rippey and his wife, Penny, live in Damascus, Oregon, where they grow hay and Douglas fir. They have two daughters; one is an registered nurse, and the other is in China for her Masters in International Studies at John Hopkins University.

Dorane Brower
Vice President of Integrated Physician and Health Plan Services for Adventist Health and President of HealthCare Resources NW

Dorane Brower is the vice president of integrated physician and health plan services for Adventist Health and president of HealthCare Resources NW. She is responsible for Adventist Health’s 34 primary and specialty care clinics, 118 providers and the team that delivers whole-person care to our patients every day. She is integrating health plan and delivery of care functions to improve patient outcomes.

Before joining Adventist Health, Brower served as the vice president of sales for Regence BlueCross and BlueShield of Oregon. In this role, she was responsible for sales and account management to all lines of business, which range from direct to consumer through national account products.

Prior to that, Brower served as the vice president of marketing and sales for BlueCross and BlueShield of New Mexico where, in addition to sales and account management, she was responsible for marketing, communication and public relations. She has worked in the healthcare industry for more than 30 years.

Brower received a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from the University of New Mexico and a second Bachelor’s of Science in business from the University of Phoenix. Brower serves on the Adventist Health Foundation board, the Oregon Mentors board and the Gresham Chamber of Commerce board. She is a fellow of the Life Management Institute.

Ralph Prows, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Adventist Health Medical Group

Dr. Ralph Prows is the chief medical office for Adventist Health Medical Group. He provides vision, direction, education and oversight to the network of 34 clinics and 133 providers in the Portland/Vancouver metropolitan area.

Dr. Prows has more than 25 years of medical experience, serving as a board-certified internal medicine physician and as an experienced leader and administrator for both clinic systems and health plans. He earned a medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine and completed his residency in internal medicine from Oschner Foundation Hospital in New Orleans.

Dr. Prows comes most recently from New Orleans, where he was president and CEO of the Ochsner Health Network, a clinically integrated network of hospitals and health systems in the Gulf South. He has also served as the president and chief executive officer for Oregon’s Health CO-OP, and was one of the key founders for the accountable care organization.

Prior to that, Dr. Prows worked as the chief medical officer for The Regence Group, where he was responsible for strategy and execution of medical quality and clinical care. He was also the first full-time medical director for The Corvallis Clinic and later served as its chief executive officer.

He enjoys cycling, live music, wooden boats and volunteer work in the healthcare field.