2019 SCL Health EMS Summit Speakers

Brent Myers, MD, is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of EMS and population health. He serves as the Chief Medical Officer at ESO and continues to serve as an assistant EMS Medical Director with Wake County EMS. He is the Immediate Past President of the National Association of EMS Physicians and is triple board certified in the areas of Emergency Medicine, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and Clinical Informatics. His clinical interests include implementation of systems of care with demonstrable outcomes.

When not at work, he enjoys travel and Broadway, having now seen Hello Dolly three times (once with Bette, twice with Bernadette) and Bruce Springsteen on the Great White Way.

Colleen Foster, MD, has been a member of the medical staff at Good Samaritan Medical Center since 2012, and, as the Department Chair, has dedicated her work to improving the patient-centered nature of emergent and urgent medical care. Prior to joining USACS, she worked on her winter driving skills while attending college at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelors of Biomedical Science. She then honed her skills further while attending Medical School at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. She graduated in the top 10% of her class as the President of the AOA Honors Society, and sought out sunshine, skiing and residency training at the Denver Health Residency in Emergency Medicine. She graduated as a Chief Resident from that program in 2012, and is grateful to call Colorado home. In her free time, she enjoys herding her small children, and trying grow things on her organic 5 acre farm.

Michael Kaiser, PharmD, completed a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). He received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Michael is currently practicing as a clinical pharmacist at Lutheran Medical Center in the Emergency Department. In his free time Michael enjoys bicycling and woodworking.

Dana Knowles was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and lived in several different states (from New Jersey to California) before graduating from the University of New Mexico with a degree in journalism and creative writing. Her broadcast career brought her to Topeka, Kansas; Raleigh, North Carolina; and finally to Denver, Colorado, in early 2000. Initially she aimed to stay in Denver for three years, that is, until she met her now husband and got married.

After almost 15 years as a television news reporter, Dana decided to devote her time to raising a family. She now has three children: a 10-year-old daughter and seven-year old boy/girl twins.

In 2011, she had surgery on her right hip to repair a labral tear, was prescribed opiate painkillers and quickly became addicted. After almost four years of trying to quit on her own, she ended up in treatment and stayed clean and sober for 10 months before a relapse brought her right back in to her addiction. In August 2016, she went back into treatment for three months and has been clean and sober ever since. These days, Dana is devoted to sharing her message of recovery in the hopes of eliminating the stigma of addiction so that more people will seek help.

The Colorado Department of Human Services, Office of Behavioral Health launched a public awareness campaign called Lift The Label in May 2018 to remove the damaging labels and stigmas that prevent those with opioid addiction from seeking effective treatment. The campaign was created with heavy input from individuals with lived experience and their families, and all of the stories and faces in the campaign are real.

Fear of judgment or being labeled an “addict” can stop someone from getting the help they need. Opioid addiction is a brain disorder, not a choice or moral failing. However, surveys of public attitudes reveal that many people do not understand substance use disorder and Americans hold significantly more negative attitudes toward persons with drug addiction than toward those with mental illness. The Office of Behavioral Health seeks to create a community of compassion to aside the stigmas associated with opioid addiction and encourage action from those in the best position to help initiate treatment and provide support throughout. To face addiction, we must eliminate shame. Learn more at Li_ TheLabel.org.

Jason Roosa, MD, MS, is the EMS Director at Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge, CO. Dr. Roosa has been with USACS (legacy Ergentus Emergency Service Physicians since 2012.

Dr. Roosa attended the University at Albany in Albany, NY, where he obtained his BS in Biological Sciences and MS in Neurobiology. He received his MD at the University of Colorado, and went on to complete his residency at Maricopa Medical Center, in Phoenix, AZ, where he was Chief Resident. He then finished his EMS/ Resuscitation Science Fellowship at Maricopa Medical Center as well.

Dr. Roosa is Board certified in Emergency Medicine and in EMS, and he is licensed in Arizona and Colorado. His professional memberships include; The American College of Emergency Physicians, National Association of EMS Physicians, Special Operations Medical Association Member, and Colorado Medical Society. He has received multiple awards including; Achievement in Research and Scholarly Activity, Maricopa Medical Center, and Chief Resident in Emergency Medicine. He’s published a significant number of peer-reviewed journal articles and abstracts.

Dr. Roosa is married with two daughters and one son. In his free time, he enjoys photography, hiking, skiing, rifle and pistol marksmanship, and mountaineering.