The Creach Consulting Team
E. Dawn Creach, MS, President and CEO, Principal Consultant
Dawn is passionate about improving health and health care delivery. Her areas of expertise include primary care medical home transformation, behavioral health integration, value-based payment & contracting, quality improvement, health policy, and patient experience of care surveys.
Dawn has more than 17 years of experience in a variety of settings including state government, an independent physician’s association, leading a statewide child health quality improvement initiative, and research & evaluation at Oregon Health & Science University. Throughout her career she has worked with more than 300 primary care clinics and, more recently, with specialty behavioral health organizations.
Dawn is a founding member of Oregon’s Primary Care Payment Reform Collaborative, fulfilling the role of an “expert in primary care contracting and reimbursement.” She is also a member of the Integrated Behavioral Health Alliance and the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association.
With a master's degree in sociology, Dawn brings a systems-level perspective and a diverse set of skills to help solve complex problems with the needs of patients and families at the forefront.
Bethany Higa, PsyD, Licensed Psychologist, Associate Consultant, Director of Behavioral Health
Dr. Higa is a clinical psychologist and behavioral health clinician who works in Portland, Oregon at a family medicine patient-centered medical home. She trains psychology doctoral students and medical residents in behavioral health. She received her undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Michigan and her doctorate in psychology from The George Washington University in Washington, DC. She completed her internship at Reed College’s counseling center and her residency at Rosemont Treatment Center and School, a part of Morrison Child & Family Services. In addition to seeing patients in clinic and teaching, she has worked extensively on behavioral health curriculum design and workflows. Outside of work, you’ll likely find her spending time with her husband and children, cooking, or walking outside.
Dave Gilmore, MBA, Associate Consultant
Dave has more than 20 years of expertise in team-based primary care. He is certified as a practice coach, has a Lean Black Belt with an emphasis in health care and improving access to care, and served on the US Air Force Customer Service Task Force for 85 clinic and hospitals across the world.
Dave served as front-line manager to Chief Operating Officer in small clinics to large medical centers across the world. His expertise includes advanced primary care operations, patient and staff satisfaction, lean process improvement, project management and population health management.
Dave previously served on the Oregon Rural Health Association Board of Directors and completed his Health Care MBA with OHSU in 2020 including a Capstone Project: CAH Provider-Based Clinic Billing Comparative Analysis and Rural Health Clinic Application process. He also led an initiative to reengineer new patient registration process in primary care by completing all registration in person or over the phone, earning the AMA/MGMA 2015 Innovation Award.
His personal interests include spending time with his wife and Labrador retriever, Bella, hiking, fishing, golfing, and gardening.
Mary Kate McMillan, Operations & Project Manager
Mary Kate comes to us from the non-profit sector where she worked as an advocacy specialist. She received her undergraduate degree in social work from Portland State University. She has 7 years of experience directing key aspects of client advocacy initiatives for community-based programs specializing in providing critical services to individuals experiencing intimate partner violence domestically and internationally. Most recently, she worked under contract with the State of Oregon offering training and technical assistance to Department of Human Services employees in Washington County. Mary Kate is committed to improving equity and accessibility of vital resources including health care and behavioral health services. When she is not at work, you can find Mary Kate exploring the tidepools on the Oregon Coast or tending to her collection of plants.