In March of 2022, One Community Health (OCH) launched a new mobile clinic in the Columbia Gorge, expanding services to patients with transportation challenges. The newly renovated clinic, named “La Clínica”, brings affordable and inclusive health care into underserved Columbia Gorge communities, kicking off with a series of launch parties in March and April.
“We have many community members who have a hard time accessing health care due to barriers like lack of transportation, childcare, and working several jobs,” says Max Janasik, Chief Executive Officer for OCH. “The mobile clinic allows us to bring quality and affordable health care to the places that need it most. It’s an important step in increasing health equity in the region.”
The name “La Clínica” was chosen for the mobile clinic as a reference to OCH’s roots as La Clínica del Cariño. “We know that this name still means a lot to many of our patients and community members. We started as a small, grassroots organization providing health care to farmworkers in the Gorge. Now we’re excited that La Clínica is allowing us to bring our range of services to the communities where our patients live,” says Gladys Rivera, Director of Preventative Health for OCH.
La Clínica is staffed by a bilingual team that includes Family Nurse Practitioner Middy Tilghman, Certified Medical Assistant Alejandra García, and Certified Community Health Worker Gerardo Vasquez.
La Clínica will travel to communities throughout the Gorge that have disproportionate rates of social and environmental factors that affect health outcomes. The clinic will work to improve access to health care in the areas of Parkdale, Odell, Cascade Locks, Celilo Village, Lone Pine, and The Dalles. OCH is working with Washington State to be able to provide services in Klickitat and Skamania counties in the near future as part of an overall campaign to recognize the impact of these social determinants of health.
La Clínica offers a range of services including:
- Urgent care and small procedures
- Preventative health care and primary care
- Pediatric care
- Basic vision exams
- Immunizations
- Referrals to specialists
- COVID, diabetes, and other basic testing
- Access to substance use support and medications
- Wound care
- Behavioral health care
- Diabetes and chronic disease management
- Insurance enrollment and financial aid applications
- Resource navigation
