Who We Are

Suicide Prevention Inland Northwest, is an ad hoc group of suicide prevention advocates who believe that within a committed community much can be done to significantly lower - or even eliminate - the number of lives lost to suicide. We seek to adapt and incorporate the body of knowledge known as the Zero Suicide Initiative into the Inland Northwest.

Dr. Paul Quinnett is a clinical psychologist, and founder and CEO of the QPR Institute. QPR is used nationally and internationally as a training to teach any adult how to respond if concerned with someone’s emotional safety. Dr. Quinnett was director of training for the Spokane Mental Health APA-approved psychology internship program for more than 20 years and has served on the board of the American Association of Suicidology. Heavily involved in the training of mental health professionals, he currently serves as clinical assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at the University of Washington School of Medicine. To help prevent suicide, he donated his bestseller, Suicide: the Forever Decision, to the world in 2005 via the World Wide Web.

Dr. John Osborn, physician at Spokane’s VA Hospital, has long worked to bring better suicide prevention training to the VA. He became a suicide loss survivor in September 2013, after the death of his 17-year-old nephew in Boise. This year, Osborn was honored by the UW-based organization, Forefront: Innovations in Suicide Prevention, for his advocacy for a suicide prevention measure in the Washington Legislature. The new law - the first in the nation - requires all health care staff, including primary care providers, to receive education in assessing, managing and treating suicidal patients.

Marny Lombard is a writer and editor. She lost her 22-year-old son to suicide in April 2013. After nearly 10 years at Gonzaga University as editor of the alumni magazine, she is working as an advocate for suicide prevention and depression awareness.

Sabrina Votava directs the Spokane Suicide Prevention Coalition and is a field worker for the Youth Suicide Prevention Program in Spokane and eastern Washington. Two of Sabrina’s brothers, Zach Ross and Kacey Ross, died by suicide.

We began working together in fall 2013.