March 27, 2024

Meet Dr. Saskia Hostetler Lippy, Cascadia Health’s Director of Acute Crisis Services

Dr. Hostetler Lippy joined Cascadia’s ranks in January and brings a wealth of experience and a passion for transformative mental health care to the forefront of the organization.

Dr. Hostetler Lippy’s journey to this pivotal role took anything but a direct route. Following her training as a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, she embarked on a career that blended clinical expertise with advocacy and activism. Her dedication to mental health, human rights, and democracy activism has taken her to the frontlines of crisis response, where she volunteered with organizations like Physicians for Human Rights.

However, it was her mid-career pivot, shaped by intensive mental health disaster response work from 2020 to 2023, that brought her back to Cascadia Health with a renewed sense of purpose. Closing her own practice in mid-2023, Dr. Hostetler Lippy seized the opportunity to return to the organization where she had previously worked with the Project Respond team in 2003-2004.

For Dr. Hostetler Lippy, Cascadia Health’s current focus on Team-Based Care and harm reduction efforts resonates deeply. She sees Cascadia as being at the forefront of Oregon—and indeed, the nation’s—mental health and substance use crises, positioning the organization to drive meaningful change and innovation in the field.

In addition to her role at Cascadia, Dr. Hostetler Lippy serves as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Oregon Health & Sciences University.

Beyond her professional endeavors, Dr. Hostetler Lippy finds solace in forest bathing, yoga, hiking, and voracious reading.

Dr. Hostetler Lippy has shown dedication to clients, the community, and the broader field of mental health. With a unique blend of clinical expertise, advocacy, and personal resilience, she is poised to lead Cascadia Health’s Acute Crisis Services with compassion, innovation, and a steadfast commitment to transformative care.