Visionaries. Trailblazers. Outfitters. Guides.
Portages Health is a Minnesota-based digital behavioral healthcare company committed to solving the two biggest problems in mental healthcare: poor access and poor results.
We started as Praestan Health in 2018. Praestan is Latin for “Superior”, a nod to our origin in Minnesota and our iconic Great Lake.
We spent the past 4 years passionately developing our model of care and our technology.
We operated 13 co-located, integrated, behavioral health clinics in primary care settings with teams of psychiatry providers, therapists, and care navigators.
In our first 3 years, we had over 20,000 patient encounters that informed the ongoing development and refinement of our model and technology.
Our Proof-of-Concept studies with our patients demonstrated that Portages effectively changes habits and behaviors and reduces distress, anxiety, and depression.
We have transitioned out of traditional office-based care to complete the development of our technology allowing us to solve for the problems of poor access and poor results.
We launched Portages Health, with another nod to Minnesota and the experience of portaging in the legendary Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness across Northern Minnesota.
We now partner with Tribal Nations to provide quality mental healthcare to their community members to reclaim their mental health and wellbeing. We also serve individuals referred from Schools, Women’s Health Clinics, Primary Care Clinics, and Employers.
At Portages Health, we are a team of respected and experienced experts in psychiatry, psychology, therapy, business, and technology committed to bringing better access and better care to patients, providers, organizations, and communities.
Our Leadership
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L. Read Sulik, MD
FOUNDER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Dr. L. Read Sulik is our founder , CEO, and Chief Medical Officer. He is a Triple Board Program trained child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist and pediatrician. For over 20 years, Sulik has passionately and tirelessly pursued the vision, design, and development of innovations to improve mental health and wellbeing and integrate behavioral health into primary and specialty healthcare. At Portages Health, he continues the adventure, forging new paths needed to bring better access to better mental health and wellbeing care to individuals, organizations and communities.
Throughout his entire career, he has held numerous senior leadership positions in healthcare and in state government. He has raised over $30 million through grants, philanthropy, and investments and received numerous professional awards. He is a passionate and compassionate clinician, teacher, and mentor and is a popular speaker, having given 100s of Keynotes, lectures, and workshops locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.
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Jill Krause, MA
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Jill Krause, our Chief Operations Officer, has extensive experience in behavioral healthcare leadership. In addition to overseeing the mental illness division of a community mental health service provider and two psychiatric hospitals, she has managed and directed numerous residential and outpatient facilities serving adolescents and adults with mental illness, substance use and co-occurring disorders, and developmental disabilities. Jill has dedicated more than 30 years to providing quality, whole-person care to those in need. She is strongly committed to the Portages Health aspiration to rise above care as usual and is devoted to integrating that objective into all aspects of her role.
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Michael Bloomquist, PhD
CHIEF CLINICAL SCIENTIST
Dr. Bloomquist is a clinical psychologist with extensive experience as a service provider, supervisor, and researcher in mental health. He is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Minnesota Medical School where he consults regarding best practices for mental health services. His work over the past 30 years has emphasized developing, implementing, and evaluating innovative mental health programs utilizing an implementation science approach. An experienced researcher, Dr. Bloomquist has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and written several books about mental health, effective intervention methods, and evidence-based practice.
As the Chief Clinical Scientist for Portages Health, Dr. Bloomquist guides the development of research-validated content, precision measurement, and implementation methods within Portages digital technologies. He trains and oversee the Portages Health workforce to ensure Portages programming and technology are applied with high fidelity. He leads evaluation and dissemination of Portages within real-world practice settings.
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Gary Jader, MBA
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
Gary Jader is our Chief Marketing Officer, and is a member of the Portages Health Advisory Board. Over the past 20+ years, Gary has been creating new products, services, and businesses for companies as large as 3M and United Health Group, as well as serving as a catalyst for many start-ups and early stage companies. Gary has a tremendous background in healthcare and is overseeing Portages marketing strategy across all sectors.
For over 17 years, Gary has also been an adjunct professor of marketing at Hamline, St. Thomas, Augsburg, and Metro State Universities.
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Desmond Walker, MBA
BUSINESS MANAGER, DATA ANALYTICS & VISUALIZATIONS DIRECTOR
Desmond Walker (Dez) is our Business and Data Analytics Manager with years of experience in business finance, auditing and healthcare quality process improvement. Desmond supports all aspects of Praestan business operations resulting in business and clinical best practices and expertise in predictive modeling, machine learning, PowerBI, Tableau, data analytics, financial strategy, and forecasting.
Desmond is known as a high-integrity, approachable, and self-motivated team player with affiliative and team-oriented leadership styles. He is known also as “Coach Walker”, and has been coaching boys and girls youth travel, AAU and high school in both football and basketball for over 20 years.
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Ed Driscoll, MBA
CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
Ed Driscoll is our Advisor for Business Development. For thirty years, Ed has launched companies and led high-performing teams in data networking, software, media and manufacturing ventures, raising over $1 billion, generating over $2.7B in revenue, and building organizations that today employ thousands of people. Ed brings years of experience and a tremendous passion and commitment to the Portages Health mission and vision in his guidance to the Executive Team in growth, scaling, and fundraising strategies.
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Emily Spende, MBA
DIRECTOR OF SALES
Emily has been the face of many different organizations in her career: starting in the specialty coffee trade, then continuing into resort ownership, and eventually landing in healthcare where she has been for the last decade. Her passion for patients is evident, and she places great importance on representing products and services that make a positive impact on the lives of others: hospice, at-home nursing services, and most recently in medical device, where she enjoyed being an active part of patient experience and witnessing life-changing outcomes.
Emily's journey has led her to Portages Health, where she looks forward to continuing to make an impact and bringing life-enhancing services to deserving communities.
Emily lives in Hudson, Wisconsin with her husband, daughters, and their pets. When she is not working, she enjoys hiking, backpacking and drinking coffee.
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Emily "Paddle" Olson
LEAD OUTFITTER AND OFFICE MANAGER
Emily "Paddle" Olson is the Portages executive assistant and lead outfitter with a passion for creating memorable experiences. With a decade of expertise in customer service and employee management, Emily excels in fostering genuine connections and delivering top-notch service with a smile.
Known for her upbeat demeanor and dedication to her work, Emily values the importance of humor in everyday life. She believes in finding joy in the little moments and shares her infectious laughter wherever she goes.
When she's not busy at work, Emily retreats into the world of literature, indulging her inner introvert with a good book. She also cherishes quality time with her husband and two boys, engaging in lively rounds of Mario Kart and playful banter. A puzzle enthusiast, Emily guards her collection fiercely, ensuring no piece goes missing. She's also an avid snacker and enjoys the thrill of uncovering treasures while thrift shopping.
With her quick wit and genuine warmth, Emily proudly holds the title of the funniest person in her family, bringing joy and laughter to those around her both in and out of the office.
The Co-Creators of Portages
Dr. L. Read Sulik, Founder and CEO of Portages Health, and Dr. Michael Bloomquist, Chief Clinical Scientist of Portages Health, are the co-creators of Portages. Both are well respected in the fields of psychiatry and psychology and have a combined 50+ years of experience and success. They have been principal investigators or co-investigators on a combined 23 services or research grants, have received total funding of over $35 million from grants, philanthropy, and investments, have a combined 42 services and research related publications along with 4 books on evidence-based practice, and have presented 100s of community and professional keynotes, lectures and workshops locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.
Drs. Sulik and Bloomquist have drawn upon the breadth of their clinical, teaching, research and leadership expertise to create the vision and to inform the development of the Portages Way, the Portages Digital Therapeutic, the Portages Collaborative Technology, and Portages Health.