Oregon's Changing Illicit Drug Market: Challenges and Emerging Solutions

This session's panel will discuss the changing illicit drug market and how it is showing up in a variety of contexts, including specialty behavioral health, primary care, rural and urban areas, and among individuals not engaged in any cart eat all.
The panel will also discuss barriers to effective care for individuals with substance use disorders as well as innovations in care and reasons for hope.

Panel Facilitator

Jessica Gregg PhD, MD | Chief Medical Officer, Fora Health, Formerly De Paul Treatment Centers

Jessica Gregg, M.D., PhD, is Chief Medical Officer for Fora Health Treatment & Recovery and an Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). She received her undergraduate degree from Stanford University, her medical degree from the University of New Mexico, and her Doctorate in Medical Anthropology from Emory University. Dr. Gregg has worked in multiple clinical and administrative capacities in both non-profit and university settings. Immediately before joining Fora Health, she was the Associate Director of the OHSU Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program and developed OHSU’s HRBR clinic, a low-barrier addiction medicine clinic, providing on-demand care for patients with substance use disorders throughout the state of Oregon. 

 

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Panelists

Jonathan Robbins, MD, MS | Associate Professor, Division of General Internal Medicine & Geriatrics, Section of Addiction Medicine, OHSU, Portland

 

Jonathan Robbins, M.D., M.S., is a primary care and addiction clinician who splits his time between primary care and the inpatient addiction consult service at Oregon Health & Science University. He is particularly interested in the intersection of chronic pain, opioid use, and opioid use disorder.

Kerri Hecox, MD | Medical Director, Oasis Center, Medford

 

Kerri Hecox, M.D., MPH, is the Medical Director and founder of the Oasis Center of the Rogue Valley in Medford. The Oasis Center is a primary care clinic designed to meet the ongoing needs of families affected by substance use disorders through the integration of medical and social services. Dr. Hecox is board-certified in family medicine and addiction medicine and obtained her medical degree from the University of Colorado and MPH from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She is a recipient of the Rogue Valley Child Advocate of the Year and the Oregon Medical Society Doctor-Citizen of the Year Award.

O'Nesha Cochran, CRM | Community Liaison, The Miracles Club, former OHSU IMPACT peer

O’Nesha Cochran, CRM, received her AAS in Alcohol and Drug Counseling from Portland Community College and a BSW from Portland State University.

Ms. Cochran broke ground with her peers to open and manage the first Queer Resource Center at PCC Cascade Campus. She was the first Recovery Mentor employed by IMPACT at Oregon Health & Science University. She supported addicts with complicated health issues from the bedside to the community. Cochran managed and designed the curriculum of the “Diane Wade House," a female identified, Afrocentric, housing program for persons who were released from prison. She was the Mutual Aid Coordinator for Brown Hope, home of the Black Resilience Fund. She is an Expert Consultant for the N.W. Portland Area Indian Health Board regarding Substance Use Disorder and Peer Support using ECHO curricula. She is also the Senior Director of Outreach and Program Development at the Miracles Club. 

A powerful motivational speaker, Ms. Cochran has experience training medical health professionals nationally and locally on the topics of implicit bias, cultural agility and best practices for addiction medicine. She has also been a Peer Trainer for MAAPPS.

Ms. Cochran spent 22 years in active addiction and 15 years in prison. She is a living testimony of what recovery CAN look like if dependence and reentry needs are accessible and attainable. It has been her life’s passion to make sure that they are.