‘Going to save some lives.’ Puyallup Tribe launches outpatient opioid treatment clinic
Puyallup Tribal Council member Fred Dillon had a lot stacked against him growing up. He came from “broken homes” and ultimately wound up in a treatment center, which he credits with saving his life.
Dillon joined his fellow Puyallup tribal members on Friday in celebrating Tacoma’s new Cedar Wellness Center, an outpatient clinic that will treat both Native and non-Native residents. The building, 503 E. 26th St. near the Tacoma Dome, officially opens its doors on Tuesday.
“Today I’m a leader in this community — a leader in recovery,” Dillon told attendees during Friday’s ceremony. “It’s truly amazing and truly a blessing to be able to stand up here in front of you guys today and let you know that, hey: ... This is going to be a lot of healing. It’s going to save some lives here.”
Dancers and drummers marked the launch of the 12,000-square-foot facility with tribal song.
The two-story center aims to save the lives of people addicted to substances like opioids, including fentanyl, alcohol, methamphetamine, benzodiazepine and other drugs, according to a news release. It will offer “individualized case management” and treat people with medications such as buprenorphine, methadone and naltrexone.
Medicaid and Medicare will be accepted, per the news release, and residents can walk in and ask for help. The tribe is working in tandem with the health care provider OneTogether Solutions on the center’s development and management.
The Puyallup Tribe told The News Tribune via email that it spent more than “$9 million of its own Tribal dollars” on the inclusive center. The clinic counts 11 staff members as of Tuesday, although full capacity is expected to be between 25 and 30.
“Full patient census for the center will be around 500 unique patients,” the tribe said. “Of these 500, [it will] likely be serving 200 to 250 individual patients each day.”
Designed to be welcoming, the clinic will “offer mental health care and limited primary care/urgent care for patients who are enrolled in its substance use disorder program,” according to the release. The aim is to treat each patient holistically.
Puyallup Tribal Council Vice Chair Sylvia Miller noted people sometimes think that substance abuse will never affect them. For many — including attorneys, doctors and CEOs — an event like a car wreck could get them hooked on prescription pills and lead to addiction, she said.
“So it’s important never, never to judge anybody that has that problem,” she told attendees. “You know why? Because that could be your family member someday.”
The COVID-19 pandemic saw a sharp spike in opioid deaths, particularly among tribal communities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native people experienced the steepest fatal-overdose rate of any ethnic or racial demographic in 2021 with 1,358 deaths.
The Cedar Wellness Center has caught the attention of some in the state Capitol.
Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins told attendees that she was “amazed and pleased” to see the crowd gathered at the clinic Friday. She highlighted the Puyallup Tribe’s efforts toward treating and preventing addiction.
Drugs are killing residents throughout the community, Jinkins said.
“So, I just want to say thank you … for what you are doing to save people, to get people back on a path to contributing to our community, to being with their families and to feeling the love that we have for them,” she added. “I think that this building, this facility and the work that you’ve done is a huge step forward to making that happen.”
The center will accept and treat patients without them first needing to make an appointment or having to go through detox, according to the news release. It will operate seven days a week, initially from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays and 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on holidays and weekends.
Learn more by calling 253-881-7001 or visiting www.cw.health.
This story was originally published May 7, 2024 at 5:30 AM.
