From our administrative leaders to our health care providers, our team works together to provide the best care possible to our patients, while engaging in our community.
Dr. Emily Anderson joined Lake Superior Community Health Center in 2013 as both provider and Medical Director. She graduated from the University of Minnesota Duluth Medical School and shortly after, completed the Duluth Family Medicine Residency Program. Her professional interests include preventive care for the whole family including women, children, and prenatal care. What she enjoys most about her job is hearing people’s life experiences. Her favorite health tip is that laughter is the best medicine.
Dr. Anderson is originally from Wentworth, WI. In her free time, she enjoys leisure reading, yoga, camping, and spending time with family and friends.
Adam Wennersten earned his Bachelor's Degree in biology from the University of Minnesota Duluth. He completed his Physician Assistant training at Western Michigan University. Adam previously served at LSCHC from 2013 - 2017. He returned to the clinic in July 2018 because he missed the patients we serve. He strives to establish trust and to provide long-term care for patients. Adam enjoys offering a variety of care in his practice of medicine, including procedures and orthopedics. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family, attending his daughters' sports activities, and exploring the outdoors.
Brittany Hamm is a Certified Nurse Practitioner (CNP) licensed in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Board certified in the areas of primary care and psychiatric-mental health care, she works with individuals across the lifespan. Brittany’s area of expertise is supporting clients through a holistic model, where physical health and mental health concerns are addressed together. She became passionate about the service of community health centers in her role as an RN and served as Clinic Director and Quality Compliance Director before returning to school to become an NP and a dual certification as Family Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner.
Nikki Shockley is a certified family nurse practitioner. Nikki has worked in healthcare since she became a nursing assistant at 17 years old. Her goal was always to become a nurse practioner. Since achieving her certification, she has worked in a variety of comprehensive healthcare settings that provided her with invaluable experience. Her passion is taking care of people and helping them have a healthy life. In her free time she enjoys crafting, quilting and working with paper crafts. Her husband, who works at the 148th fighter wing and retires in 2021, and their two children love to camp and travel.
Jake Oestreich is a board certified family medicine physician. He has lived and worked in the greater Twin Ports area for over 20 years. He attended the University of Minnesota – Duluth Medical School and then participated in the Duluth Family Medicine Residency Program. After that, Dr. Oestreich worked for Lake Superior Community Health Center for six years before briefly departing to tackle other professional goals. He now returns with a strong commitment to the patients we serve. He also serves as the Director of Clinical Education for the PA Program at the College of St. Scholastica. He views his role as a family physician as that of a friend with highly specialized knowledge. As such, he approaches his practice with the compassion, commitment and seriousness that it deserves. He and his family love the Twin Ports Community and are committed to staying in the area for the long term.
Dr. Kara McGillivray joined the team at Lake Superior Community Health Center in 2020 following twenty-five years in private practice with her husband, Dr. Greg McGillivray. Dr. McGillivray graduated from Northwestern Health Sciences University in 1994. She holds post-graduate certification in spinal trauma. The highpoint of her profession is witnessing the positive impact chiropractic care achieves in the lives of patients. Improved well-being, health and quality of life are just some of the benefits enjoyed by those who avail themselves of this form of health care. Dr. McGillivray is excited to be part of an integrative health care system, collaborating with other providers for the betterment of each patient.
Dr. Greg McGillivray joined the team at Lake Superior Community Health Center in 2021 following twenty-five years in private practice with his wife, Dr. Kara McGillivray, who joined LSCHC the year prior. Dr. McGillivray graduated from Northwestern Health Sciences University. He holds a Spinal Trauma Certification from the International Chiropractic Association. He has been recognized twice as one of the 10 best chiropractors by the American Institute of Chiropractors. Dr. McGillivray is a strong believer in the value of an integrative health care system, collaborating with a multi-disciplinary clinical team to produce better health outcomes, and promotes evidence based spinal healthcare in every treatment plan he develops with the patients he serves.
Dr. Jason Bramstedt graduated with his Doctorate of Chiropractic from Northwestern Health Sciences University in Bloomington MN. He is excited to pilot chiropractic services for LSCHC's Superior practice in the fall of 2022. Jason has twenty-three years of Chiropractic experience and truly appreciates each patient as the individual that they are. He holds pride in providing personalized, evidence-based care to all of his patients.
Dr. Erick Anderson joined the team at Lake Superior Community Health Center in 2022. He brings years of Chiropractic experience and is excited to start Chiropractic services at our Carlton location beginning early 2023. Dr. Anderson currently serves at our Duluth and Superior locations. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, camping, and coaching little league baseball.
Aaron Pust is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who began working at Lake Superior Community Health Center in 2012. He graduated from the University of Minnesota, Duluth. His professional interests include providing a safe environment to explore and bring balance to the whole person including mental, emotional, spiritual, and social elements using an individualized and non-judgmental approach. He works to provide help for Anger, Depression, Anxiety, Co-occurring Disorders (Mental Health and Chemical Dependency), Mood Disorders, Grief & Loss, Relationship Issues, Men's Issues, and Life Adjustment Issues. When asked what Aaron enjoys most about his job, he replied. “I enjoy working with our patients and consider it an honor to help individuals, couples, and families move towards healing and wholeness. I enjoy working with a very compassionate and talented staff at our clinic to meet the needs of our patients. Last, but not least, I enjoy working in a clinic that serves patients from many different backgrounds regardless of whether they have health insurance.” His favorite health tip is to practice being mindful of your thoughts, feelings, and moods each day. Try to stop negative self-talk and other negative elements by focusing on positive things including what you can be thankful for and can complement yourself about. We often do not give ourselves and those around us enough credit for the good in our lives.
In Aaron’s free time, he enjoys hiking, biking, reading, taking pictures, and spending time with family and friends.
JoEllyn Steele, MA-LMFT joined Lake Superior Community Health Center in 2018. She graduated from Argosy University with her Master’s degree in Marriage in Family therapy in 2013. She’s been working in the field of mental health for 19 years in a multitude of settings, giving her a comprehensive view of how the system works. Her professional interests include working with teens through adults, using a variety of modalities. She believes a strong, trusting relationship is the most important part of any therapy, and works hard to assure this is accomplished with all of her clients. She has had advanced training in sand tray therapy. She is also certified in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) for working with individuals who have experienced trauma. In 2016 she earned a Permanency and Adoption Competency Certificate from the University of Minnesota. In her free time you will find her outside hiking, camping, fishing, running or going on general adventures with her family and friends.
Kraig Peterson is a Social Worker/Therapist with a humanistic, person-centered approach to his work. He has a master’s degree in social work from The College of St. Scholastica and has worked at LSCHC for 4 years. His therapeutic lens is trauma-informed and he has particular interests in developmental psychology, attachment theory, and family systems. Kraig embraces the harm-reduction model and feels that creating a safe space for people to share thoughts and feelings without feeling judged is imperative to healing. He uses several evidence-based modalities to inform his practice including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Motivation Interviewing (MI), and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Kraig is certified in Trauma-Focused Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) through EMDRIA’s Trauma Recovery/HAP, and Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). Kraig is from Duluth and a veteran of the United States Air Force where he served as a Signals Intelligence Analyst. In his time away from work he enjoys spending time outdoors and traveling.
Megan Shipley graduated from University of Minnesota- Twin Cities with a degree in Family Social Science in 2015. She continued with her education at the U of M and graduated with a Master’s degree in Social Work in 2015 with an emphasis in Clinical Mental Health; Health, Disabilities and Aging, and Integrated Behavioral Health. Her past work experience includes clinical work with adults with severe and persistent mental illnesses in a community mental health setting, as well as therapy with children and families on the Autism Spectrum in the Twin Cities. Megan became a Licensed Graduate Social Worker in 2017 and has over 4 years of working with adults with SPMIs. As a therapist working in Community Health, she enjoys working side by side with individuals, families, and communities in building skills, resiliency, and understanding by using trauma-informed approaches.
Tiffany Johnson is a board-certified Substance Abuse Counselor, and also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work. She has an interest in working with younger individuals to help prevent substance use and substance addiction.
Ruby Brewer completed her Master of Science degree through Capella University in Minneapolis, MN in Mental Health Counseling. Ruby’s previous work experience includes working for the MN Department of Corrections in Lino Lakes as a Clinical Program Therapist in the TRIAD Co-Occurring Disorders Unit providing therapy and treatment to clients with complex mental health and substance abuse struggles. Ruby also worked for several years with the Minnesota Sex Offender Program providing therapy to clients with a wide range of struggles and challenges. Ruby is trained and experienced in diagnosing and treating clients through several therapeutic modalities that aid in exploring ways to bring balance to their lives in a holistic manner by specializing in skill development, psychoeducation, and therapeutic interventions. Ruby’s personal interests involve the outdoors, reading, gaming, and spending time with family (and the furbabies) and friends as much as possible.
Holly works at our Superior location as a Substance Abuse Counselor for our AODA program. Holly wants her patients to know that they are never alone in their recovery journey, and that there is power in asking for help. She believes that everyone should be heard, and that everyone deserves empathy, compassion and understanding. The values that drive Holly and her practice are empathy, optimism, kindness, growth, community, and balance.
"You deserve to celebrate not only who you've become, but who you could have become and fought not to."
Dr. Leila Jindeel started with Lake Superior Community Health Center in 2014. She graduated from the University of Southern California School of Dentistry.
Dr. Cao's education includes a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Master of Dental Therapy degree from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and her Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from Midwestern University. Dr. Cao is passionate about community health care. She worked for 5 years as a dental assistant/dental therapist in Rochester, MN at a non-profit dental office. She is excited to be in the Twin Ports and to "improve access to dental care for under-served patients in the area." In her free time Dr. Cao enjoys spending time with her fiance and two dogs. She also enjoys cooking and exploring new places.
Dr. Richard Oase started with Lake Superior Community Health Center in 2011. He graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry. His professional interests include preventive dentistry and implanted restorations. He enjoys helping people with their dental problems and helping them gain confidence in their oral health. His favorite health tip is to floss.
Dr. Oase is originally from Duluth, MN. In his free time he likes to garden, hike new places, work with his dog, upland bird hunt, swim, and do activities with his grandchildren.
Dr. Jeffrey Bertani graduated from Creighton University in 1987 with a degree in Dentistry. He works at our Carlton location and enjoys helping those in need. In his free time, Dr. Bertani likes to fish for brook trout, farm, and play golf.
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