New Snohomish County mobile opioid care unit showcased

MONROE — A showcase for a new mobile opioid treatment clinic Tuesday marked the availability of services to rural areas throughout Snohomish County.

Lynnwood Comprehensive Treatment Center — a part of Acadia Healthcare — showed off its new Mobile Medication for Opioid Use Disorder Clinic on Tuesday. Funding came from $1.4 million in opioid settlement money from lawsuits against drug companies that played a significant role in worsening the drug crisis nationwide.

The mobile treatment unit, based in Gold Bar with planned stops in Oso, targets rural and underserved communities across the county. A clinic that can meet people where they are could be life-saving, according to Regional Director Nicole Smith-Mathews.

“There are people right now who don’t have access to this kind of care because they live in a spot where they don’t have transportation, or for whatever reason they can’t get out to the closest clinic,” she said in an interview. “Maybe the closest clinic is 45 minutes, so it’s really hard for them to spend that hour and a half each day if they have to go to a facility.”

The mobile clinic already has four potential patients, Smith-Mathews said. Acadia’s other Washington state unit — based in Spokane — currently treats 60 patients monthly.

“It’s really something the community’s been asking for. We have a real need for this, especially in rural areas,” County Council member Megan Dunn said in an interview. “Having something that’s mobile and can come to where the populations are is really great while we’re still supporting and having brick and mortar options.”

Only 10% of people who have a substance use disorder are currently treated for it. That number is likely lower in rural areas due to limited access, Smith-Mathews said.

After a slight decline in opioid overdoses between 2023 and 2024, this year is already trending to exceed last year’s 245 deaths involving opioids.

“Every community is affected by addiction, but it’s treatable,” said Alyssa McLaughlin, the attending nurse who will travel with the clinic.

Drug and alcohol counselor Beatye Mitchell will also provide her services wherever the unit travels. She is passionate about this work because it helps more than just patients, she said.

“You see their families, you see how they affect the whole community. They are a part of a whole community,” she said.

The facilities inside the clinic are “much better than other units,” Mitchell said. For other mobile clinics, she provided treatment while sitting on a curb, she said. Care coordination, counseling and opioid treatment — including access to methadone and naloxone — all happen inside this new mobile care unit.

Services are available 6:30-10:30 a.m. weekdays at 106 Croft Avenue in Gold Bar.

Taylor Scott Richmond: 425-339-3046; taylor.richmond@heraldnet.com; X: @BTayOkay