Recovery Hero: Jamestown Healing Clinic

The Jamestown Healing Clinic is all about just that: healing. From its social navigator and medications for opiate use disorder, primary care, dental, and behavioral health services to finer details like its Native American architecture and art, the Clinic will “[provide] sustained recovery for those struggling with addiction.” With the official opening of the Clinic just around the corner, it aims to fill a significant gap in the needs of the Olympic region.

This gap can feel daunting. Especially due to the ongoing opioid crisis (along with other substance use disorder challenges), there are simply not enough beds for people to get the help they need. Though improved from five years ago, just 1 in 2 adults on Medicaid in the Olympic region received the SUD treatment they needed, and even fewer (2 in 5) youth received needed treatment. In addition, there are only 8 male and 4 female residential withdrawal facility beds in the entire region, and they are all in Kitsap County (2020 Behavioral Health Report). And beyond these acute challenges, many who need treatment also often lack some of the supports and resources in their lives that provide the stability they need to continue their recovery.

The Clinic aims to change that. And although it is not a detox or inpatient facility (meaning that it does not have “beds”), it still plays a large role in treatment access. In the spirit of integrating indigenous practices with top-tier care, the Clinic’s leaders believe that larger community change comes from helping each individual holistically.

This belief draws its inspiration from a story (told below), deeply embedded in Jamestown S’Klallam culture, about a grandfather and his grandson fishing along a river.

The Story of Changing the Course of the River