Cascade Health Hospice Team

Laura Helfrich, RN

Director of Hospice Services

While spending the first 11 years in the clinic and hospital setting, Laura learned that people heal better in their homes. Laura joined the home health team 10 years ago. Laura has been a leader and nurse educator in home health, always looking for innovative ways to provide services to patients in their home. Serving the community towards better health is what brings gratification to Laura’s work life. She also enjoys gardening, sewing, spending time with her grandkids.

McKenzie Bellis, RN

Pete Moore Hospice House Manager

McKenzie was born and raised in the Lane County area and feels honored to care for her community through nursing and leadership. She holds over 15 years of healthcare experience with specialties in reproductive care, critical care, and hospice and palliative care. McKenzie holds certificates in crisis response, patient advocacy, clinical education, and forensics. She cares deeply about every individual’s right to receive safe, informative, and compassionate healthcare at every stage of life. When she isn’t caring for patients or supporting team members, she is usually enjoying nature with friends and family through hiking, gardening, and yoga.

Kristi Haun, RN

Hospice Manager

Sheree Miller, RN

Clinical Manager

Kristi Wallace, F.N.P.

Family Nurse Practitioner

Kristi Wallace has been working in some form of the medical field since the age of 18, starting out as a hospital housekeeper. She graduated from Linfield College with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1990 and spent the next five years working as a nurse in a 14-bed hospital in rural Alaska. She returned to Eugene and subsequently spent 17 years working in correctional medicine.
She earned her MS in Nursing Administration in 2009 and then her Family Nurse Practitioner in 2010. She began working in the field of palliative care and hospice in 2021 and knew then that she’d found the field she was always meant to be in.
In her spare time, Kristi enjoys cooking and baking and doing crafts. She enjoys spending time with her teenage grandchildren and is a devoted dog mom to her Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Hazel, Henry, and Harper.

Kate Brassington

Chaplain

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Kate Brassington joined Cascade in 2022 to support those affected by grief and loss in our community. Kate has spent over a decade working with and studying grief. Passionate about bereavement support, she feels honored and deeply humbled to be with people in these tender, intimate, and often pivotal times in their lives. Kate has a Masters in Divinity and is trained as a clinical chaplain. During her residency at a hospital in Portland, she specialized in Pediatric Palliative Care and studied applied clinical ethics. Kate loves exploring creeks with her children, celebrating obscure holidays, and playing her ukulele.

Kyle Kurzet, M.D.

Physician

Pronouns: they/them/theirs
Kyle Kurzet, MD, MS, FAAFP, started in hospice care as an adolescent hospice volunteer in Portland. They earned their undergraduate degrees in biology and anthropology and a master’s in biology at Brandeis University. After graduating with an MD from Oregon Health & Science University, they completed residency and worked as a board-certified family physician and hospice medical director in Utah before returning home to Oregon. When not at Pete Moore Hospice House, they are serving the LGBTQ+ community at Transition Health, laughing with friends, reading, hiking, or running on the Ridgeline trails.

Joan Harvey, N.P.

Nurse Practitioner

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Joan Harvey worked for more than 30 years as a critical care nurse before obtaining her master’s degree as an Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner in 2014Joan particularly enjoys working with elders and is honored to have the opportunity to help people and their families navigate advanced illness and the end of life. On her days off, Joan enjoys hiking, trips to the coast, lunches with friends and her meditation practice.

Preeti Yonjon Feist

Volunteer Coordinator

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Preeti joined Cascade Health in 2021. She holds bachelor’s degrees in psychology and sociology from Eastern New Mexico State University, and master’s degrees in gerontology and social responsibility from St. Cloud State University. A community organizer at heart, Preeti enjoys working in hospice and palliative care. Prior to joining Cascade Health, she spent nine years managing various volunteer programs and has expertise as a DEI trainer and advanced health are directive program coordinator. She was born and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal and in her spare time enjoys practicing yoga and meditation as well as gardening, biking and the outdoors.