Patricia Butler, Dr. Sean Kelly

Patricia Butler, RN, BSN, PHN, is the Health Director of the White Earth Reservation Health Division which includes Home and Community Based Health Programs. She received her nursing degree at Moorhead State University in Public Health Nursing. During that time she participated in examining Native American Traditional Healing and Spirituality with Dr. Roxanne Struthers – University of Minnesota. In her current position she directs the White Earth Health Division’s mission, vision, financial, and strategic priorities that are intended to protect and promote the health of all residents of the White Earth Reservation and contribute to the maintenance or restoration of health status.

Sean Kelly, DDS, MsC, served as a Commissioned Corps Officer within the Indian Health Service of the United States Public Health Service from 2003 to 2017. He retired as a Captain on August 1, 2017 with 26 years of combined active duty service with the U.S. Navy. Starting as a Staff Dentist for the Puyallup Tribal Health Authority Dental Clinic, he has been the Dental Director since 2008. As Director, he supervises a team of 30 personnel in a large clinic of 19 chairs that provides treatment for American Indians/Alaska Natives living in Pierce County, WA. Dr. Kelly has worked with numerous other tribes throughout Washington, Oregon, and Idaho with the “Baby Teeth Matter Collaborative” directed by the Northwest Tribal Dental Support Center and the Arcora Foundation. The group has actively pursued and successfully found ways to improve access to dental care and reduce general anesthesia treatment referrals for children 0-5 years of age through implementing minimally invasive dentistry and case management models of care. In 2020 Dr. Kelly joined the Northwest Tribal Dental Support Center as Clinical Consultant.