The former site of Barney’s Pastrami on Sunday, August 13, 2023, where a new opioid treatment facility will take its place in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)

The former site of Barney’s Pastrami on Sunday, August 13, 2023, where a new opioid treatment facility will take its place in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)

Opioid clinic to replace Barney’s Pastrami in Everett

“It’s a done deal,” a spokesperson for Community Medical Services said. He expects the clinic on Evergreen Way to serve about 400 people.

EVERETT — Fifteen years ago, John Koch was using heroin daily. Then he began a medication treatment program for opioid use disorder.

“I believe it’s what helped keep me alive,” he said.

Koch is now the community and public relations director for Community Medical Services. The opioid use disorder clinic is set to open in the next six to nine months at 5130 Evergreen Way in Everett. It’s the former home of Northwest Camera Repair and Barney’s Pastrami Dip, which shut down in 2021.

“It’s a done deal,” Koch texted Tuesday. “We’re in a 10-year lease.”

Koch said he expects the clinic to serve about 400 people overall, with fewer than 80 patients showing up daily. He chose the clinic’s location, the organization’s first in the state, because it’s accessible.

“We don’t want to be hidden in a medical plaza,” Koch said. “We want to be more like medical retail, where people can see us, have exposure to us, and know that there’s an option right there off of Evergreen Way for them to get treatment on demand.”

The clinic would provide low doses of three FDA-approved medications — buprenorphine, naltrexone and methadone — to relieve withdrawal symptoms and cravings. Patients would also have access to counseling, peer support, doctors visits and psychiatric appointments.

In 2009, researchers from the University of Oslo in Norway found the increased risk of dying from an overdose after four weeks of medication-free inpatient treatment “is so dramatic that preventative measures should be taken.”

Koch said treatment with medication is the gold standard for opioid use disorder and the most effective way to stabilize people addicted to fentanyl. Koch tried other treatments to overcome heroin, he said, but they increased the chances he would overdose.

Koch said Community Medical Services, based in Phoenix with over 40 clinics nationwide, decided to expand to Washington because the state “needs some help.”

In 2021, synthetic opioids like fentanyl became the primary cause of drug-related deaths in the state, according to data from the Addictions, Drug and Alcohol Institute at the University of Washington.

While deaths from commonly prescribed opioids and heroin have declined, synthetic opioid-related deaths have spiked to almost 90% of all opioid deaths in the state. Ten years ago, they accounted for less than 25%.

According to the Snohomish County Community Health Assessment published in June, opioid overdose deaths have nearly doubled and are higher than the overdose death rate statewide. The county has also surpassed the national rate. In Everett alone, the police department reported 95 drug overdoses from preliminary data collected before June.

“We found that Everett was one of those cities that had high overdose rates,” Koch said.

Mayor Cassie Franklin said the almost 500% increase in overdoses since last year is mostly due to fentanyl, according to past Herald reporting.

Andrew Saxon is the director of the Center of Excellence in Substance Abuse Treatment and Education at the University of Washington. He said fentanyl has made the opioid crisis in Washington “very severe” because it’s potent, cheap and easy to transport.

“It causes a really extreme physical dependence,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

In recent months, the public has shown increasing concern at Everett City Council meetings about homelessness and public drug use, especially in light of the council’s vote to condemn the Waits Motel.

Dennis Wagner, president of Downtown Dennis Real Estate, told the council he often sees people get high at the entrance of the QFC on Broadway.

“We’ve got to do something, it’s crumbling,” he said at a City Council meeting last month.

The city has proposed solutions like “no sit” zones, homeless shelters and substance abuse treatment centers with mixed reactions from the public — including pushback against turning Hope Church into a shelter, a half-mile north on Evergreen from the new clinic.

City Council member Paula Rhyne said she wants to see more resources allocated to treatment clinics like the one at Denney Juvenile Justice Center, but the city needs more help.

“Everett alone, we can’t do it,” she said Friday.

Christine Timko researches substance use disorders and their treatment at the VA Palo Alto health care system and Stanford University School of Medicine. She said many people aren’t getting the help they need.

“The main issues are increasing access to treatment, getting people into treatment so they’re on those medications and getting people to stay on those medications,” she said.

Timko said increasing access to treatment should be the city’s first priority in helping to solve the opioid crisis.

“There are just not enough treatment facilities,” she said.

Current medication providers for opioid use disorder in Everett include Therapeutic Health Services and Ideal Option, which has a location on Hoyt Avenue about a half-mile north of the proposed clinic.

In an emailed statement, city spokesperson Simone Tarver said Franklin “definitely agrees that we need more behavioral health services available in our area.”

Koch said he knows the new clinic may raise concerns.

“We will not have lines of people outside of our building,” he said. “We will be treating our patients and the community with dignity and respect.”

The clinic’s neighbors include a glass and vape shop, a Punjab market and an accounting firm. Assistance League of Everett sits across the street. Bonnie Yoseph, board president of the Assistance League, declined to comment on plans for the clinic.

Saxon said people’s concerns about increasing treatment clinics may be valid, but access to medication is a matter of life or death.

“This medication saves lives,” he said.

Sydney Jackson: 425-339-3430; sydney.jackson@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @_sydneyajackson.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Customers enter and exit the Costco on Dec. 2, 2022, in Lake Stevens. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Costco stores could be impacted by looming truck driver strike threat

Truck drivers who deliver groceries and produce to Costco warehouses… Continue reading

Two Washington State ferries pass along the route between Mukilteo and Clinton as scuba divers swim near the shore Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ferry system increases ridership by a half million in 2024

Edmonds-Kingston route remains second-busiest route in the system.

The second floor of the Lynnwood Crisis Center on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Funding gap leaves Lynnwood without a crisis center provider

The idea for the Lynnwood crisis center began in 2021 after a 47-year-old died by suicide while in custody at Lynnwood Municipal Jail.

Three injured after high-speed, head-on collision on Highway 522

Washington State Patrol is investigating the crash that happened before 4:30 p.m. on Monday.

Fernando Espinoza salts the sidewalk along Fifth Avenue South on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Think this is cold, Snohomish County? Wait until Tuesday

Tuesday could bring dangerous wind chill during the day and an overnight low of 19 degrees

Robin Cain with 50 of her marathon medals hanging on a display board she made with her father on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Running a marathon is hard. She ran one in every state.

Robin Cain, of Lake Stevens, is one of only a few thousand people to ever achieve the feat.

People line up to grab food at the Everett Recovery Cafe on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Coffee, meals and compassion are free at the Everett Recovery Cafe

The free, membership-based day center offers free coffee and meals and more importantly, camaraderie and recovery support.

Devani Padron, left, Daisy Ramos perform during dance class at Mari's Place Monday afternoon in Everett on July 13, 2016. (Kevin Clark / The Herald)
Mari’s Place helps children build confidence and design a better future

The Everett-based nonprofit offers free and low-cost classes in art, music, theater and dance for children ages 5 to 14.

The Everett Wastewater Treatment Plant along the Snohomish River on Thursday, June 16, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett water, sewer rates could jump 43% by 2028

The rate hikes would pay for improvements to the city’s sewer infrastructure.

The bond funded new track and field at Northshore Middle School on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024 in Bothell, Washington. (Courtesy of Northshore School District)
Northshore School District bond improvements underway

The $425 million bond is funding new track and field complexes, playgrounds and phase one of two school replacements.

The Washington State Department of Licensing office is seen in 2018 in Seattle. (Sue Misao / The Herald)
Drivers licensing offices to close Feb. 14-17

Online services are also not available Feb. 10-17. The Washington State Department of Licensing said the move is necessary to upgrade software.

Pharmacist Nisha Mathew prepares a Pfizer COVID booster shot for a patient at Bartell Drugs on Broadway on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett lawmakers back universal health care bill, introduced in Olympia

Proponents say providing health care for all is a “fundamental human right.” Opponents worry about the cost of implementing it.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.