About Us

History of Women’s Clinic, PC

Our tradition of providing compassionate, excellent care for women in Oregon dates back to the 1940’s with the formation of two private practices that would eventually become Women’s Clinic, P.C. Just after the Second World War, Dr. Duncan Neilson, Sr. and Dr. Ronald Neilson, twin brothers from Portland, joined together in private practice. Soon after the publication of the first research paper on pap smears in 1954, the Neilsons became the first physicians in the Portland area to perform routine pap smears on their patients for cervical cancer screening. After Dr. Ronald Neilson died in 1960, Dr. Duncan Neilson recruited his cousin, Dr. Richard Bolton, to move to Portland from Georgia and join him in practice. The practice continued to grow over time adding several new doctors, including Dr. Carl Mark, Dr. Bob Prins, and Dr. Duncan Neilson, Jr.

The Portland Women’s Clinic was a contemporary group of private practice Obstetrician/Gynecologists that started with Dr. Ivan Langley, Dr. David Moore, and Dr. Bill Wilson. They also practiced general Obstetrics and Gynecology, but Dr. Langley also developed skills in the more extensive surgery required for patients with gynecologic cancers. He was initially the only doctor in the Portland area who performed these procedures. This group also grew, adding Dr. John Tarnasky and Dr. Peter Roberts. They were followed by Dr. Tom Brugger, who died tragically several years after joining the practice. Dr. Tom Flath joined the group out of residency in 1977, as did Dr. Patti Winn in 1985 and Dr. Jim Stempel in 1982.

The two groups merged in 1991 and continued to grow during a time of rapid change in the healthcare environment. Dr. Chip Prescott joined the group in 1996 and has remained with the group through its evolution. We have continued to recruit caring physicians who practice up-to-date medicine and are community leaders. Dr. Jaime Kean joined our group in 1998, and she was followed soon after by Dr. Amy Schmitke and Dr. Rich Hamilton in 2000. Dr. Lisa Johnson joined Women’s Clinic in 2003, and she was followed by Dr. Lisa Diepenhorst in 2006 and Dr. Greg Eilers in 2008.

Women’s Clinic has continued providing compassionate, excellent Obstetric and Gynecologic care for women from adolescence through pregnancy, menopause, and into later life. Our physicians continue to strive to be on the leading edge of quality and technology in medicine, just as our founding physicians did over 50 years ago. We intend to keep doing so as we care for the women of Portland for many years to come.