About Us

Dr. Bertelsen grew up on a farm outside of Eugene wherein began his love of animals. He completed his undergraduate work at OSU (after a stint at the U of O) and transferred to UC Davis in California to complete his veterinary education, as OSU did not offer a full veterinary program at that time. After graduation in 1972, he moved to Tualatin to soon open his clinic in a tiny town of just 800 residents. Since 1973 Dr. Bertelsen has provided care to clients in Tualatin, and the surrounding communities.

Meet Ru. She is a fine specimen of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. She excels at only a few things. Those are being cute, waking her parents up in the middle of the night, begging for food, and chewing up paper towel rolls. She lives an easy life, working as a manager for her work-from-home mom each day from her bed on the desk.

While there are many things she could tell you about herself, Ru would like to tell you about her dad, Dr. Matt. Despite being the only person who has ever poked her with needles and removed one of her organs, she still thinks he is a pretty swell guy. She could tell you a lot of things about how he has wanted to be a vet since before kindergarten or how he went to vet school in Washington where he found his love for comic conventions and many other nerdy things or even how he worked for five years back in his home town of Pocatello pursuing general practice and emergency medicine, but the only important point Ru focuses on is that he moved to Portland to live closer to her (and maybe, probably, more likely her mom Morgan).

Matt joined Tualatin Park Veterinary Clinic in June of 2021 and has immensely enjoyed his time working with the staff, the clients, and the patients here in Tualatin and the greater Portland area. He hopes to spend the rest of his career at Tualatin Park, meeting many new faces and new pets.

Steve was born and raised in Ventura County, CA in a suburb just north of Los Angeles. He has always had a deep love for animals and initially pursued careers in wildlife biology, animal training and zookeeping. Early in his college career, he switched his focus to veterinary medicine. He graduated from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 1993.

Since then he has practiced in a variety of different hospitals, including a few years at a veterinary blood bank, in CA, MD, DE, PA, VA, WA, and OR. He really enjoys working with pets and their families, building relationships and seeing the joy it brings to people when their sick or injured pet is brought back to health. He lives with his wife, Lori, daughter, Olive, their dogs (Dr. Finkelstein and Her Majesty), and their pigs (Tawaret and Martha My Dear). In his spare time he enjoys hiking, nordic skiing, home improvement projects, and playing music with Olive.