Signs are displayed for patients at the new Cascade Community Healthcare clinic in Centralia.
Alisha Watson talks about switching over from Valley View at the new Cascade Community Healthcare clinic in Centralia.
Patients schedule visits by phone at the new Cascade Community Healthcare clinic in Centralia on Tuesday.
Rooms for seeing patients are seen at the new Cascade Community Healthcare clinic in Centralia on Tuesday.
Lisa Archer talks about the new system they are using at the Cascade Community Healthcare clinic in Centralia.
Cascade Community Healthcare, formally known as Cascade Mental Healthcare, has opened a primary care medical clinic in Centralia to provide its patients with not just mental health care but physical care as well, all at one location.
Dr. Richard Stride, CEO of Cascade Community Healthcare, said that having both mental health services and a clinic to treat physical ailments will increase the ease of care for patients and providers.
“Offering holistic health will be a first for Lewis County, and it will definitely be a benefit to our patients,” Stride said. “Providers can collaborate and deliver the best care because services are under one roof.”
In the spring of 2020, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell announced that Cascade Community Healthcare would be receiving a nearly $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to fund Cascade Primary Care Medical Clinic.
“We knew it was a long shot to apply, and we are thrilled with the news. It fits with our long-term strategic plan, and it’s a win not only for our behavioral health agency but a win for Lewis County as well,” Stride said last spring.
Nearly $6 million in grants went to behavioral clinics in Washington state. They were funded through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
“Senator Cantwell has worked with her colleagues to ensure clinics in Washington state are eligible for funding and has worked with clinics throughout the state to help them apply and get funding through the program,” stated a press release from the Cantwell’s office.
The new clinic is in the building of the former Valley View Health Center walk-in clinic. It is staffed by four employees — a receptionist, two medical assistants and an advanced registered nurse practitioner (ARNP).
Lisa Archer, the clinic’s ARNP, and other clinic employees practiced medicine at the current clinic location with Valley View Health Center before Cascade took over, making the transition process pretty seamless.
Stride said he sees the combination of Cascade’s mental health services and the clinic’s services having a positive effect on the overall health of the community. If Cascade can offer well-rounded, full care to patients and those suffering from substance abuse, then the overall health of the community is expected to improve over time, he said.
“(Opening the clinic) is something that I’ve been wanting to do since I came to Cascade back in late 2013 — to offer holistic health in a community that’s many times not able to have it because it’s rural,” Stride said.
Cascade Community Healthcare hopes to hold a ribbon-cutting and an open house to celebrate the opening of the clinic, but with the ongoing threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, Stride said they are holding off at least until the spring.
Cascade Community Healthcare has been providing mental health care to the community since 1966. More information about the new clinic can be found by calling 360-330-9044 or on Cascade Community Healthcare’s website, https://cascadecommunityhealthcare.org/primary-care-program/.
