Staff Directory

Matthew Bauer

Dr. Bauer joined OCHC in 2009 with the goal of developing an advanced care eye clinic for the community.  He started with one exam room at our Dunlap location and has now grown the eye clinic into 2 locations with a total of 6 exam rooms and 2 pretesting rooms.  This growth has also lead to hiring a team of 2 other doctors and 3 other support staff to assist the community with providing the best eye care able to treat nearly all eye conditions.  The eye clinic team has also expanded to do eye exams off site at local schools, homeless shelters, and community spaces. Dr. Bauer graduated from the New England College of Optometry in 2009 with honors.  His passions include non-profit health care, health care delivery to underserved or neglected populations, and ocular disease.  He has a particular interest in diabetes, glaucoma, dry eye disease, and ocular surface disease management.  In 2011 his colleagues elected him to the Minnesota Optometric Association’s Board of Trustees and he became President of the organization from 2018-2019.  Dr. Bauer also is an adjunct faculty member of The New England College of Optometry, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Western University of Health Sciences College of Optometry, and Midwestern University College of Optometry.  Currently he continues to be active in eye care and health care related issues though OCHC and the Minnesota Optometric Association as well as teaching nearly graduated optometrists. Outside of OCHC, Dr. Bauer loves being a father to his 3 daughters and spending time with his wife and friends.  He loves the outdoors, hiking, biking, and running.  Occasionally he’s been known to be out looking for geocaches in the city while running.

Mark Garnett

Dr. Mark Garnett is a 2001 graduate of Northwestern Health Sciences University. Since graduating, he has owned and operated two private practices and is currently the department head and treating Chiropractic Physician at Open Cities Health Center. His mission: to serve and educate humanity by providing the highest quality of medical care available regardless of race, creed or socio-economic status. Clinically, his interests include a wide variety of topics that include neuromusculoskeletal dysfunction & injury, autoimmune disease, functional medicine, pediatrics, geriatrics, nutrition, physical rehabilitation and exercise science. His professional and business organizations affiliations include: Ramsey County Community Health Advisory Committee, American Chiropractic Association, Minnesota Chiropractic Association, Black Chiropractors of Minnesota and the Selby Avenue Business Association. He is currently serving as the Chiropractic Alumni Board Chairman at Northwestern Health Sciences University.

Vanessa Ng

Dr. Vanessa Ng, PsyD, LP joined Open Cities Health Center as a Clinical Psychologist and Director of Behavioral Health in 2014. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota and her doctorate at the Minnesota School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Ng is experienced working with patients with complex histories to provide a safe, culturally sensitive environment to support their overall health needs. She is especially interested in providing integrative care by looking at the overlap between physical and mental health and considering creative strategies to help people flourish. Dr. Ng provides health consultation, individual therapy for adults, couples and family therapy, and psychological evaluation. She works with people living with chronic illness and pain, depression and anxiety, trauma, grief and loss, as well as other needs. Her therapy style is patient-centered, interpersonal/psychodynamic, and employs cognitive-behavioral and emotions-focused strategies. Dr. Ng also has competencies in clinical supervision and provides training for students in graduate programs towards clinical licensure.

Cynthia Woods

Dr. Woods is a board-certified internal medicine physician. She attended medical school at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed residency at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. She has special interests in chronic disease management, preventive care, medically supervised weight loss, and substance use disorder. She is certified to provide medication assisted treatment for substance use disorders. Dr. Woods’ goal is to educate and empower patients to become active decision-makers in their own care. Dr. Woods is a member of the American Medical Association and American College of Physicians. In her free time, she enjoys traveling abroad with her husband, and learning French. Dr. Woods looks forward to serving the Saint Paul community. She is currently accepting new patients.

Summer Johnson

Farhia Mursal

Dr. Farhia Mursal recently joined our organization and will be the new OCHC Clinical Pharmacist. She was born in New York City and has lived in northern Virginia with her family until they moved to Minnesota. She attended the University of Minnesota for both undergraduate and graduate school. After graduating from Pharmacy School, she began her pharmacy career in retail but always has yearned to use more of her clinical expertise. She will be a resource for everyone regarding medications and/or treatment plans. She is also a mother of a beautiful 6-year-old boy! They love going to plays, playing in the park, and visiting local museums.

Guillermo Chang

Ijeoma Ogbonnaya

Jean Thomas

Jean Brown Thomas Cole, born and raised in the south, to Kelly and Mary Brown. She is the second oldest of eight children and lived most of her life in a small town called Lambert, Ms. Jean is a mother of 3 biological children, 2 daughters and 1 son, and 4 stepchildren. She is married to Jessie James Cole. She started her nursing career over 35 years ago. She has worked for OCHC for all most 16 years. It has not always been easy, but it has always been very rewarding knowing that she helped someone feel better. Being raised in a loving and God-fearing family taught Jean values and respect for all mankind. Being raised in a home of parents that took in strangers, and shared with others the little they had, instilled in her something that is needed more in today’s society: “Love”. A father as a Pastor taught faith and love, and showed it every day of his life until God called him home. She will always cherish and be forever grateful for knowing how to show love to all of God’s creatures. In her words, “I am a servant of God, and that’s why I can serve His people with love and compassion.”

Lauren Peterson

Lauren Peterson is a Family Medicine Physician Assistant. She has a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition from St. Catherine University and a Master’s of Science in Nutrition at University of Nevada Reno. She earned her Master’s degree in Physician Assistant studies from St. Catherine University. Lauren Peterson is board certified with the National Commission of Certification of Physician Assistants and Minnesota Board of Medical Practice. Her special interests include preventative medicine, women’s health, and diabetes. Her professional affiliations include American Academy of Physician Assistants, Minnesota Academy of Physician Assistants and Physicians for a National Health Care Program Minnesota Chapter.

Michael Kamp

Dr. Michael Kamp in a board certified internist with a special interest in the underserved, refugee and immigrant population.  He is on staff at Regions Hospital and has been a clinical professor at the University of Minnesota, a staff physician with Health Partners at the Center for International Health, and a medical director of a large inner city health clinic. He is married with two sons. When he has time he enjoys biking, mountain climbing, music, reading and basketball

Michele Rehm Johnson

Samuel Boadu

Dr. Samuel Y Boadu received his doctor of nurse practice (DNP) at the University of Minnesota in 2008, and Master of Science-FNP from the Metropolitan State University, St. Paul, MN. Dr. Sam Boadu’s professional experience includes retail walk-in clinic, urgent care, occupational health care, correctional health care, and primary care. He has been a full-time provider in the clinic since 2007, and he is the lead APRN. He is one of the few primary care providers in USA who provides care to HIV patients and he is the head of the HIV care team in the clinic. Dr. Sam Boadu is married with three children.

Sandra Griffin

Thomas Spray

Tsitsi Hungwe

Dr. Tsitsi Hungwe is a General Dentist. She joined OCHC in 2017. She was born in Harare, Zimbabwe and immigrated to the US in 2003 with her family. She chose to go into the field because she believes that a career in dentistry would enable her to make difference in people’s life by improving their health. Some of her interests include traveling and trying new food.

Jessica Schara

Dr. Jessica Schara completed her Doctor of Optometry degree from Illinois College of Optometry. Her interest in pediatrics led her to complete a residency in pediatrics and binocular vision through the Illinois Eye Institute. Dr. Schara returned back to her native Twin Cities of Minnesota where she resides with her husband and two children. She is a member of the Minnesota Optometric Association and the Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association. She also serves on the Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory committee for the state. Every summer she looks forward to volunteering as a Clinical Director for the Special Olympics Opening Eyes program. In her spare time, she enjoys reading.

Kate Hollenbach

Dr. Kate Hollenbach is a residency trained primary care optometrist with special interest in ocular disease. She is originally from Cedar Rapids, IA and completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Hollenbach completed her optometric degree at the New England College of Optometry in Boston, and her residency at the Columbus VA Healthcare System. She returned to Minneapolis with her husband in the summer of 2019. Every other year Dr. Hollenbach travels to Peru for one week to help give free exams to hundreds of patients in need; she has a passion for healthcare and education. In her free time, Dr. Hollenbach likes to read, travel, explore the Twin Cities, and play volleyball with her husband. Her current life goals are to improve her Spanish language skills and hike Kilimanjaro!

Jill Helgemoe

Lana Sunderland

As an ARMHS Mental Health Practitioner and Licensed Social Worker, Lana Sutherland is passionate in helping people with mental illness manage symptoms to achieve what they want out of life. She collaborates with clients to build up their own unique strengths in a rehabilitative environment. This can look like meeting in the community or home to learn relationship communication skills, crisis assistance, relapse prevention, general life skills, medication monitoring, household management, transition to community living, or goals they want to achieve but feel overwhelmed by mental illness symptoms. Lana offers a focus on skills of trauma-informed care and person-centered perspective. In her free time, she loves to read, hike with her family, enjoy nature, and go to music events in the Twin Cities!

Nicole Terlouw

Counseling is Nicole’s passion and her purpose. She seeks to provide a safe, compassionate, and nurturing environment that inspires growth, transformation, recovery, and healing. She has worked with children, adolescents, adults, and couples for over ten years. However, she has a special heart for adolescents and young adults. This passion grew from her early work with teens in the foster care system and was furthered by seven years at a counseling center in Georgia. She specializes in the areas of transition, relationship problems, anxiety, depression, self-harm, anger, identity, and trauma. She takes a psycho-educational approach, blending different evidence-based treatment approaches while incorporating humor, media, and art which she tailors to the needs of the individual. She approaches health holistically; addressing the spirit, mind, and body. She completed her undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Minnesota. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Family Social Science and a Master’s degree in Social Work and earned her clinical licensure in 2009.

Rachel Freyberger

Dr. Rachel Freyberger obtained her Doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. She has been working primarily with populations that have experienced both interpersonal and community violence since 2012. Her specialties include narrative therapy interventions and strengths-based approaches that incorporate a multicultural lens. Rachel values patients for who they are and what they bring into the therapy room, and tends to take a holistic approach to her work as well, focusing on how a patient’s physical, emotional, and spiritual health are impacted.

Udele Xiong

Udele Xiong completed her undergraduate degree at St. Olaf college and received her Bachelors of Art in Psychology. She likes to approach her clients by getting to know who they are as a whole person first and as a collaborative effort towards achieving an individual’s personal recovery vision. Her focus is on helping clients gain skills to feel empowered towards managing their unique mental health condition. She can help clients gain support towards getting access to community resources (food shelves, donation sites, job vocation), problem solving for housing barriers, developing social/communication skills, increasing physical activity, navigating government agencies (SNAP, MNsure, SSI), offering morale/emotional support, and coordinating with a client’s care team. Udele also co-leads an ARMHS group that is available towards all those participating in Open Cities’ ARMHS program.

Ghazala Usman

Todd Volk