Considering the many fractures in this nation’s health-care system, successful efforts to apply first aid to it deserve special attention.
In Snohomish County, an ever-growing example is the Providence Everett Healthcare Clinic, which continues to break new ground as an innovative, compassionate and efficient provider of care to uninsured and other low-income patients.
The nonprofit clinic, located in former retail space on Broadway just east of Everett Community College, opened in January 2004 after a local fund drive raised more than $1 million in private donations. Now, after another campaign that exceeded its goal by raising more than $600,000, the clinic plans to add another 1,200 square feet of space, which will allow it to expand medical treatment and mental health counseling. By next year, the clinic should be able to handle 12,000 medical appointments and 3,000 counseling appointments per year.
Clearly, the community has recognized the clinic’s value and made a commitment to support it. “I’m very proud of what we’ve done, and of the community for stepping up,” said Dr. Tony Roon, the clinic’s founder and director.
Roon’s original vision stemmed from a shortage of physicians in Snohomish County, where there are only about 1.1 doctors for every 1,000 residents, about half the rate of surrounding counties. Without enough physicians to provide volunteer care for the underserved, as happens elsewhere, patients were flocking to the Providence emergency department for primary care. That’s the most expensive primary care and the least complete, Roon points out, because there’s usually no follow-up.
Now, the clinic offers families and individuals better and more cost-efficient care. Because of the local physician shortage, nurse practitioners work on the front lines at the clinic, making referrals to doctors when necessary. They’re supported by University of Washington nursing students. The clinic has helped train 70 nurse practitioners, Roon said, with the help of three federal grants provided through the UW.
The clinic also coordinates dental services. Local dentists volunteer their time and work out of a van that visits twice a month.
The growing integration of medical and mental-health care makes the clinic’s services even more efficient and effective. Medical and behavioral problems don’t exist in isolation, Roon notes, so integrating their care gives the practitioner a more complete picture and the patient a better chance of getting the best treatment.
This nation must move to rationally address the disarray of its health-care system. Until it does, though, heroic local efforts like the Providence Everett Healthcare Clinic will be sorely needed.
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