Scott Swanson
Dr. Tessa Reff is happy to be in Sweet Home, because this is exactly the kind of town she was looking for.
Reff, 33, is the latest practitioner to arrive at Sweet Home Family Medicine, which has been beefing up its staff in response to increased demand for medical care and the departure of one physician.
She said she is here because she likes small towns – she grew up in one – and because Samaritan Health Services, which operates the Sweet Home clinic, allows her to practice medicine the way she wants to. This is her first position after completing her medical training.
She specializes in women’s health, prenatal and maternity care, including low-risk labor and delivery.
“I chose Samaritan due to the location,” Reff said. “I’ve always known I wanted to practice in a small town. But I’m also interested in practicing obstetrics, and this is one of the places that allowed me to do obstetrics along with being a family doctor.
“I also like Samaritan’s focus on services to the community and the opportunity to be involved in medical education.”
Reff was born and raised in Bemidji, a city a little smaller than Lebanon, in northern Minnesota.
She earned a bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College and a medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School. She completed residency training at University of Minnesota, at both the Duluth campus, which emphasizes rural medicine, and the main campus in Minneapolis. After graduating in 2011, she did her residency at the North Memorial Medical Center – Broadway Family Medicine Residency Program, which emphasizes medical care to under-served populations, she said.
“Even though a lot of it was inner-city, it was a lot of the same issues,” she said. “Lots of advanced diseases in young people, for instance.”
After graduating with an undergraduate degree in biology, Reff spent two years, 2003-05, in Swaziland, in southern Africa, with the Peace Corps, doing community development work in a village of about 300 people – gardens and other projects, and working with groups back home in Bemidji that had funding available for such projects.
“I was kind of a liaison between this small community and government and non-government organizations,” she said.
Returning from Swaziland, she roomed with friends in Pittsburgh, Pa. while applying to medical schools, and worked at a deli, where she met her husband, Jeff Gainer, a chef from West Virginia. She talked him into moving to Minnesota after she was accepted into medical school and – that’s one reason why they’re in Oregon.
“He hated (Minnesota),” she said. “He missed the mountains. He loves this area. He used to hunt and fish quite a bit, so he’s looking forward to doing some of that here.”
Their plan is for Jeff to be a stay-at-home dad for their two small children, Henry, 4, and Aurora, 5½ months, until the children start school, she said.
In her free time, Reff enjoys spending time outdoors, hiking, camping, traveling and gardening.
Meanwhile, she looks forward to getting to know her new patients.
“Everyone has a story to tell, and as a doctor I am privileged to hear a multitude of stories and help patients understand the interconnections between their lives and their physical health,” she said. “Plus I get to be with people during some of their most joyous times and help them through some of their most difficult times.”
She also expects to be able to help her patients find their way through what she says is an increasingly complex world of medical care.
“Health care is going to get more complicated. I can help people understand their problems and negotiate the system.”
Reff is accepting new patients. For more information, call Sweet Home Family Medicine at (541) 451-6250.