ABOUT US

Mark A. Eaton, MD, FACS

BARIATRIC SURGEON

Dr. Eaton received his medical degree from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque, NM. He attended the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, TX for his surgical residency and he completed a vascular surgery fellowship at University of Tennessee’s Graduate School of Medicine in Knoxville, TN. Dr. Eaton is the medical director of Southern Oregon Bariatric Center. He became a strong proponent of bariatric surgery after he witnessed many patients greatly benefiting from bariatric surgery while he was completing his surgical training.

Juan M. Castillo, MD, FACS

BARIATRIC SURGEON

Dr. Castillo received his Doctorate in Medicine from the New York University Medical Center in New York, NY. He completed his surgical residency at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, TX. Dr. Castillo specialized in vascular surgery during his Vascular Fellowship at the New York University Medical Center in New York, NY. He is Board Certified in General and Vascular Surgery, is a Fellow in the American College of Surgeons and a member of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. Dr. Castillo believes strongly in the great value of bariatric surgery as a treatment for morbid obesity.

Susan Hubartt, LPN

BARIATRIC LICENSED PRACTICAL NURSE

Susan came to us with many years of nursing experience. She is a 1992 graduate of Shasta College in Redding, CA with a Certificate of Completion in Vocational Nursing. Susan has had experience in Acute Care, Gastroenterology, Primary Care, Urgent Care, and most recently as a Clinical Scribe in an urgent care setting. Susan’s interest in Bariatric patients came as a result of having Bariatric surgery herself and seeing the benefits in her own life. She has also gone through the journey previously with her husband as well and feels like he would probably not be here with her today if it weren’t for his weight loss and Bariatric surgery. Susan works closely with SOBC Providers managing pre-operative requirements and post-op care including triage. Susan is excited about building relationships with our Bariatric patients and walking with them through their journey.

Melissa Rowan, RN, BSN, CBN

ARRMC BARIATRIC PROGRAM COORDINATOR

(541) 789-4703

Melissa joined the program in 2016 as the hospital-based Bariatric Program Coordinator at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center. Melissa educates patients preparing for bariatric surgery to understand what they can expect during their hospital stay. She also oversees and assists with the training of hospital staff in the knowledge required to care for a patient having bariatric surgery. In her role, she closely monitors the program to ensure compliance with national standards established by the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program. Melissa is dedicated to promoting a patient-centered, safe and healing environment with knowledgeable and compassionate staff while you recover from surgery.

Noelle Taylor

BARIATRIC PATHWAY SPECIALIST

Noelle earned an Associates of Psychology and Social Science at College of the Siskiyou’s in Weed, CA in 2013.  She relocated to the Rogue Valley to pursue a medical career, with an emphasis on patient advocacy.  In 2014 Noelle began scheduling surgery at Oregon Surgical Specialists, PC.  In 2017 she joined the SOBC team, where she has enjoyed her role at the front desk, as well as behind the scenes as the Bariatric Pathway Specialist.  She is inspired by patient’s perseverance and commitment to self-improvement, also by our practice’s collaborative effort in promoting physical as well as emotional health.

Bene Chavez

CERTIFIED MEDICAL ASSISTANT

Bene recently joined the SOBC team as our Medical Assistant but has many years of prior experience working with the surgeons at Oregon Surgical. Bene is a certified medical assistant and her long term goal is to become a registered dietician.

Amanda Linnehan

FRONT OFFICE ASSISTANT

Amanda joined our team in June of 2018 just a little over 1 year after her own successful Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy with SOBC.  Amanda has spent the majority of her life living in the Rogue Valley.  She is active in her community, coaching softball for Ashland High School and other club softball teams.  She and her husband are raising their family in the Rogue Valley after spending several years in Wyoming.  Amanda spends as much of her free time as possible with her family.  They enjoy hiking, horse-back riding, going to the surrounding lakes and traveling to the coast together.  When she is not with her family or coaching softball, you can find her at the gym working very hard on maintaining her weight loss or at Baxter’s boxing and coaching others.  Amanda is very passionate about the SOBC program and helping others on their own journeys through this process.

Linda Ruette

FRONT OFFICE ASSISTANT

Linda joined SOBC in February of 2017, and has enjoyed her role as Front Office Assistant.  She is originally from the Chicago area, and started her move west to attend The University of Denver where she earned her BA in International Relations and a Graduate Certificate in Modern Languages.  Following college, she spent almost ten years in Brazil where she learned Portuguese and taught English.  She returned to the U.S. with her son and followed family farther west to Southern Oregon where she has worked in health care and volunteered for The American Red Cross.  She enjoys many aspects of her work at SOBC, especially helping patients overcome challenges and make improvements in their overall quality of life.

Damon Ramshaw

BAXTER FITNESS SOLUTIONS

(541) 776-9813

We are delighted to be partnering with Damon Ramshaw and the medical exercise specialists at Baxter Fitness Solutions. They began providing the fitness portion of our program in 2010.