Meet Our Team
Rebecca Gonzalez
Director of Clinical Services
Biography
Rebecca Heigl
Manager
Biography
Steve Belzer, RN
Assistant Manager
Biography
Kathleen Cordes, MD
Medical Director
Biography
Rebecca Gonzalez
Rebecca Gonzalez provides strategic direction and oversight of the clinical services department, including diabetes and nutrition education, home health, hospice and the Pete Moore Hospice House. She has worked in health care for more than 20 years and joined the Cascade Health team in 2018. She has a health care administration degree from Oregon State University and an advanced Lean certificate from Virginia Mason. She enjoys spending time with her husband and two busy daughters, horseback riding, being outdoors and experiencing the pleasures of country life.
Rebecca Heigl
Coming Soon
Steve Belzer
Steve joined Cascade Health as a home hospice and palliative care nurse in 2019 before becoming the department’s assistant manager in 2020. He began his career in healthcare a decade prior as a medication aide in an assisted living facility. It was there that he was first introduced to hospice, which sparked his interest in nursing. Having earned his first bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Macalester College in 2002, Steve returned to school and earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from University of Portland in 2011. Outside of work, Steve is a busy father of two and enjoys getting outdoors with his family to hike, swim, forage for mushrooms, camp and snowboard in Oregon’s beautiful and varied landscape.
Kathleen Cordes
Kathleen Cordes, MD was a practicing family physician for more than 26 years before joining Cascade Health in 2020. She became the medical director of hospice and palliative care in 2021. Originally from Minnesota, she earned her undergraduate degree in biology at Concordia College before graduating as a Doctor of Medicine from the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine. She moved to Oregon in 1989 for the temperate climate and worked as a physician, medical director and medical consultant, then opened her own practice in 1994. Dr. Cordes is an avid scuba diver and enjoys underwater photography and fish identification, as well as sewing, baking, reading, exploring Oregon and gathering with friends and family.
Joan Harvey, NP
Nurse Practitioner
Biography
Stephanie Nixon, ANP
Nurse Practitioner
Biography
Sarah Jane Petersen, MSW
Medical Social Worker
Biography
Kyle Kurzet, MD, MS, FAWM, FAAFP
Physician
Biography
Joan Harvey
Joan 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 2014 and working for several years in long term acute care. Her hospital experience taught her how important it is for people to understand what to expect from the trajectory of their disease, what interventions could be offered and what benefits and burdens are implicated in those choices. Joan 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.
Stephanie Nixon
Stephanie worked for more than 10 years in family practice in Colorado before obtaining her master’s degree in nursing in 2014. She relocated to Oregon in 2015 and worked in acute and urgent care here prior to joining Cascade Health’s Hospice and Palliative Care teams in 2021. She views her chosen profession as a lifestyle, nurturing her home and community each day. She prides herself on her knowledgeable, compassionate care for patients and their families and says that she is, “…blessed to be a part of a team that provides dignity, humility and compassion for people in some of their most vulnerable moments.” Stephanie spends her free time with her two children, her mother and a village of animals. She enjoys being outdoors for walks and hikes, riding horses, traveling and gatherings of family and friends.
Sarah Jane Petersen
Sarah Jane Petersen has been a licensed clinical social worker for patients and families in health care settings since 1994. She has worked at Cascade Health in hospice and palliative care for the last 12 years and is grateful for the opportunity it gives her to work with people during meaningful transitions in life. In addition to her work with Cascade Health, Sarah Jane facilitates support groups for the Oregon Cancer Foundation and The Fertility Center and previously for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She and her husband have twin girls in college and love camping. Sarah Jane also loved running, dancing, reading and spending time with friends.
Kyle Kurzet
Kyle Kurzet, MD, MS, FAWM, FAAFP joined Cascade Health in 2022 as a hospice physician, having previously worked in as the medical director of a hospice in Utah. They are also the owner and direct primary care provider at Transition Health in Eugene, Ore. and have experience in obstetrics, urgent care, emergency medicine, women’s health and athletic medicine. Dr. Kurzet is board-certified in family medicine and is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Practice. They received their undergraduate degree in biology and anthropology and their master’s degree in molecular/cell biology from Brandeis University in Massachusetts before earning their Doctor of Medicine from Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Ore. Dr. Kurzet loves enjoying the outdoors with family and friends, and enjoys running, cycling, cross-country skiing, backpacking, traveling, teaching, art and reading.