Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility

Ann Turner, MD Co-President (she/her)

Ann Turner graduated from the University of Southern California School of Medicine.  She is a board-certified physician in internal medicine and hematology-oncology.  She was a founder of South Central Family Health Center, a community health center in Los Angeles, where she was medical director and physician for 12 years.  In 1994, she moved to Portland Oregon and joined the staff as Medical Director and primary care physician at Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center, serving migrant and seasonal farmworkers and other low income and vulnerable populations.    She held this position for 20 years as Virgiinia Garcia grew from one primary care and a small satellite site to 5 primary care and 6 school-based health centers, providing primary care, mental and behavioral health, dental and pharmacy services to more than 40,000 individuals .    She served on the Board of Directors of both the Oregon Primary Care Association and Northwest Primary Care Association.  She was a longtime volunteer with the Metropolitan Alliance for Common Good, a broad based community organizing group,  advocating for health care reform with the State legislature and other social justice issues.  Since retirement, she has been an active member of Oregon PSR’s HCAT team, working on the intersection of climate, health and environmental justice.   She has participated in writing several reports including Methane Gas:  Health, Safety, Economic and Climate Impacts (http://bit.ly/methanereport-2022), and has been a voice in successfully advocating against new fossil fuel infrastructure projects in the Pacific NW.  She represents OPSR in a national coalition, FossilFree4Health. Ann also serves as Co-Interim Executive Director of Oregon PSR.

Regna Merritt, PA Co-President (she/her)

A retired Physician Assistant, Regna built and directed Oregon PSR’s Healthy Climate Program from 2012-2019. She learned valued principles of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion while on staff. She worked as co-director of the regional Power Past Coal coalition (2017-2019) and served on leadership teams of Stand Up to Oil, Power Past Fracked Gas, and other local coalitions that successfully prevented the development of new fossil fuel infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest. She enjoys work with elected officials to maintain a stable climate and establish model policies that protect communities. In 2019, she received National PSR’s Visionary Leaders Award. Regna serves as Co-Interim Executive Director of Oregon PSR.

Elaine McKenzie, RN, MPH, Vice-President

Elaine is a public health nurse who worked in Alaska before moving to Portland in 2005. She worked as an expert direct service public health nurse, Fairbanks Health Center Manager, and as Deputy Chief for Alaska's public health nursing system. After retiring from the State of Alaska, she studied for a PhD in Nursing at University of San Diego and taught at University of Portland's School of Nursing. Studying the consequences of collective violence and war and using a public health framework became a focus during her PhD studies. Elaine currently serves on the Steering Committee for Oregon PSR’s Peace & Justice Action Team (PJAT) and the Development Committee.

Patricia Kullberg, MD, MPH Treasurer 

Patricia Kullberg graduated from OHSU medical school, trained as a family physician at UC Davis Sacramento, and was a Robert Woods Scholar at U of Washington, where she earned her MPH. She served for two decades as the medical director at Multnomah County Health Department, where she was also a primary care provider at a clinic for houseless, undocumented, and other marginalized folks. On the Ragged Edge of Medicine: Doctoring Among the Dispossessed, her memoir about her medical practice, (OSU Press, 2017) explores the challenges and rewards of working in a clinic of last resort within a broken health care system. Following her retirement in 2012 she's been active with Oregon PSR on a variety of climate justice issues in the hopes of building climate resilience and dismantling systems of injustice in her beloved home town of Portland. She is also part of a collective that produces a weekly public affairs radio show, the Old Mole Variety Hour, on KBOO community radio. She is the author of numerous articles in both the lay and academic press about the complicated intersections of health and medicine with politics. In 2020 she was awarded the Preuss Distinguished Alumni Award from OHSU. 

Leslie Cagle, MD, Secretary (she/her)

Andy Harris, MD