Leanne Eggert, DVM
Dr. Eggert is a Keizer native who remembers the inside of the Keizer Heritage Community Center from its days as Keizer Elementary School. She is a proud graduate of McNary High School who continued her education at Lewis and Clark College and the College of Veterinary Medicine at Oregon State University. After working at practices in Veneta and Salem, she is thrilled to own Creekside Veterinary Clinic, right here in her home town.
She is a long time volunteer and former board member of the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon, working hard to improve the health and reduce overpopulation of feral cat colonies. While still in veterinary school, she partnered with the Humane Society of the Palouse to found Feral Cat Solutions, a similar trap-neuter-return program for the Paulouse region of Washington and Idaho. Prior to moving back to Keizer, Dr. Eggert was a founding board member of the Community Veterinary Center, which provides veterinary services to the pets of low income people in Lane County, Oregon.
Her interest in exotic animals stems from having a wide variety of pets. Over the years, Dr. Eggert's pets have included eleven hamsters, four dogs, five cats, four ferrets, and numerous fish. She has worked diligently to expand her knowledge about many of the interesting pets that her clients enjoy. In addition to the most common pets, she sees ferrets, rabbits, rodents, reptiles and birds. For most of us, Dr. Eggert is the only person we know who has given injected medications to a betta fish.
Dr. Eggert lives in Keizer with her husband, also a McNary High School graduate, and two sons (a recent McNary grad, and a future McNary grad). She has a mixed breed dog, two cats, plus several fish and the clinic cats.
Megan Angstrom, DVM
Dr. Angstrom grew up just outside of Salem in the Macleay community and showed an interest in animal health at a very young age. When she was a wee tyke, her family’s cat caught and injured a mouse, which the future veterinarian helped nurse back to health.
She has an Oregon based education through and through. After excelling at Blanchet Catholic School, she went on to study Animal Science at Oregon State University before continuing with the Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine at OSU. Faith and service are very important to Dr. Angstrom, leading her to serve with two missions in Belize during her college years.
In addition to general practice with dogs and cats, Dr. Angstrom has a particular interest in chicken health care for flocks of all sizes.
When she isn’t working, Dr. Angstrom enjoys travel, spending time with her friends, and competing with her brother to see who can eat the spiciest food. She lives in Salem with her cat, Aslan, and her dog, Pippin.
Alyssa Matteson, DVM
Dr. Matteson originated from the Midwest, growing up in Illinois and Ohio, and took an early interest in astronomy before turning to biology and ultimately becoming a veterinarian.
After earning her first degree in Biology at Cleveland State University, she spent several years working in zoo animal care while earning an advanced degree in Conservation Biology from Miami University. She completed behavioral studies of koalas, red wolf pups, and cockatoos. She hand-reared Humboldt penguin chicks, bred river otters, and trained raptors. There is even a black bear that allows voluntary blood draws after her positive reinforcement training. Although Dr. Matteson has worked with venomous animals, the riskiest animals were the large cats. In all her zoo animal experience, caring for a hummingbird aviary was her favorite.
Dr. Matteson moved to Oregon and earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at the Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine at OSU. In the ultimate demonstration of multi-tasking, she and her husband expanded their family with two children while she was in veterinary school. As a general practitioner at Creekside Veterinary Clinic, in addition to dogs and cats, she continues to see a variety of other species.
Her interest in astronomy continues as a hobby, along with the more recently started hobby of playing violin. Dr. Matteson, her husband Chaz, and their two children live in Salem with many pets, including dogs, cats, fish, chickens, and a turtle.
Practice Manager
Amanda
Amanda came to us from Texas where she was the Practice Manager at a large veterinary hospital. She also has quite a lot of experience as a veterinary technician. After moving to Oregon and taking a well earned break, she brought her awesome skills to our clinic.
Front Desk Team
Dawmanique
As our Lead Veterinary Receptionist, Dawmanique is responsible to guide the team and spearhead the training of new team members. When she joined our clinic, she was new to the veterinary field and quickly gained the knowledge and skills demanded by the role. She is cool and steady under pressure.
Allison
Before Allison became one of the world's greatest Veterinary Receptionists, she spent time in hospitality, and prior to that, she cared for goats. She milked them, assisted with their births, and helped turn some of them into champion show goats. A person doesn't have to care for goats to become a G.O.A.T., but it seems fitting.
Heather
Among our front desk team, Heather has been with us the longest, initially filling in for others before finally taking on a regular schedule. She has a great deal of veterinary experience and frequently gives us ideas for improving service or making things run more smoothly. Her professionalism has been a huge benefit to our clinic for years.
Phoenix
Phoenix is a knowledgeable Veterinary Receptionist partly from her years of experience as a Veterinary Assistant. We occasionally nab someone out of Florida and it's always nice to know our clinic is worth uprooting oneself and moving clear across the country. OK, OK, she probably came here initially for something else, but it was destiny.
Nicole
Nicole has years of customer service experience, along with skills in recordkeeping, audits and compliance, scheduling and employee supervision. We are loving her positivity and the energy she brings to the team.
Veterinary Technicians
Vanessa
Vanessa became a certified veterinary technician through the Veterinary Technology program at Portland Community College. Prior to that, she was one of our veterinary assistants and a team lead. Her knowledge and attention to detail are invaluable.
We're Hiring
We are looking for our next excellent Certified Veterinary Technician. Come join our team!
Veterinary Assistants
Kristy
Kristy always knew she wanted a career in the veterinary field and worked for clinic in Las Vegas for several years before moving to Oregon. She saw us in the Iris Festival Parade and brought her beloved guinea pigs to us. Thank goodness she did because after meeting her, we were fortunate enough to recruit her.
Cat
Cat has been part of Creekside Veterinary Clinic for several years and is a team leader. She is one of our most knowledgable team members and is often responsible for training our newcomers. One of our great points of pride is that Cat met the love of her life working right here in our practice!
Wil
Before Wil joined our team, he was slinging pizzas at a local establishment and one of our other employees recommended him for training as a Veterinary Assistant. Now he's one of the senior members of our team. Interestingly, Wil met the love of his life at our little clinic. Wait, wait, there are two? Yep, and Dr. Eggert officiated their wedding!
Liz
Liz has more than a decade of experience working in veterinary practices. After moving to Keizer some years ago, she had a stint working in a dental practice. When she came back to veterinary medicine, we nabbed her.
Pami
In addition to her Veterinary Assistant duties, Pami handles our inventory and ordering. It's pretty darn important for us to have medications and materials available, so it's nice to have someone dependable handling those things.
Eliana
Eliana is one of our locals and joined our team fresh out of McNary High School. She cut back for a while to earn her college degree and recently came back full-time, for which we are very grateful!
Jenifer
As a Lead Veterinary Assistant, Jenifer is always helping improve our team's skills, knowledge, and workflow. She has a huge impact on our daily operations and is a joy to have on our team.
Rosa
Although relatively new to our team, Rosa came with some Veterinary Assistant experience and rapidly became a versatile member of our team. She is also bilingual in English and Spanish, which frequently comes in handy.
Robert
Robert has several years of experience as a Veterinary Assistant and a background in human medicine as a member of the U.S. Army. Humans are gross, so it's pretty easy to understand why someone would switch to working with animals.
Michelle
Michelle has several years of experience as a Veterinary Assistant and brought her skills to our clinic shortly after moving to Oregon.
Crystal
Crystal began working in veterinary medicine after working in retail, food service, and customizing tactical gear. As a talented Veterinary Assistant, she has rapidly become an important part of our team.
Behind the Scenes
Mona
Mona is in charge of our surgery preparation area, cleaning and sterilizing instruments, and maintaining our sterilizing equipment. These processes are critical to patient health and safety. She is also Kristy's mom!
Kian
Kian helps with the general maintenance of the clinic and sometimes lends a helping hand with patients. Before he changes into his scrubs, he always has the widest pant legs in the clinic. Kian is one of Dr. Eggert and Jon's sons.
Jon
Jon assists with the business management, installed the computers, manages the website, and repairs whatever breaks. Jon graduated from McNary High School, has a degree in Physics from Lewis and Clark College, and in addition to helping out here, he works in software development.
Jon is married to Dr. Eggert and lives with the same great kids and pets that she does (see above). He enjoys flying airplanes, hiking, and snowshoeing with his family.