Tribe plans Eugene clinic, Dec. 17

Coquille Tribe release – Office will expand health-care access for Native people – EUGENE – A new outpatient medical clinic will serve the Eugene area’s indigenous people, providing health-care access to thousands of Native Americans and Alaska Natives who currently are unserved by any tribal clinic. “We are excited to be able to serve our own tribal members as well as other indigenous people,” said Brenda Meade, chairman of the Coquille Indian Tribe. The tribal clinic will offer primary and same-day care to all Native American and Alaska Native patients, as well as to members of the general public. Meade said the project follows the potlatch tradition celebrated by West Coast tribes. “Potlatch is about sharing our resources with our friends and neighbors,” Meade said. “We are very fortunate to be able to do that with health care.” Indigenous patients, whether they are covered by private insurance or Medicaid, will pay no out-of-pocket expenses at the tribal clinic. The tribe emphasizes that its venture doesn’t aim to compete with existing medical providers. Instead, the tribe’s wellness center will provide another option not only for Native Americans, but also for other community members who have struggled to access medical care. Lane County is home to many Coquille Tribal members, whose families resettled after the tribe was driven from its traditional homeland on Oregon’s South Coast. The Eugene area also is home to an estimated 6,000 Native Americans and Alaska Natives, constituting one of the Pacific Northwest’s largest indigenous populations lacking access to a tribal clinic. The clinic will begin providing limited services this month, with a full complement of outpatient medical care in early 2021. Prospective patients should watch for announcements inviting them to register. The clinic, as yet unnamed, will be located near the intersection of River Road and Division Avenue, between the Albertsons and Fred Meyer supermarkets. The tribe will share an existing building with three current tenants: Gentle Dental, Axis Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation, and Willamette Valley Mammography. All three tenants will remain in their current quarters. Eugene’s Meili Construction and Daniel Klute of Eugene’s GMA Architects will remodel the building’s fourth suite to accommodate the tribal clinic. The tribe purchased the 13,000-square-foot building with help from a $900,000 Indian Community Development Block Grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. “We’re grateful for the HUD grant that makes this possible,” Meade said. “We’re going to provide better access for Native Americans in and around Lane County, and we know that better access leads to better medical outcomes.”