Health Care Made Easy

By Liv Stecker

In 2013, The Empire Health Foundation conducted a study to evaluate the accessibility of primary medical care in the Colville/Kettle Falls area. The study ran simultaneous to a shift in medical providers locally that impacted the availability of sliding scales for low income families as well as how private pay parties had access to health care. The study found that 17% of residents in the area did not have medical insurance. Of this number, many were seeking primary health care out of the area, and the majority of the remainder were going untreated. Dr. Barry Bacon, along with Physician's Assistant Don Jackson, set out on a mission to mend what they saw as a gaping hole in primary health care accessibility for their community. There seemed to be a lost demographic between those who qualified for Medicaid and those who had access to private insurance. Even after the advent of the Affordable Health Care Act, local providers witnessed a rapid decline as locals lost faith in the health care system when there was no longer a sliding scale and they couldn't afford the co-pays of their private insurance. Dr. Bacon made the decision to leave the North East Washington Medical Group shortly after Providence Health Care purchased the privately owned clinic.

On January 19, 2015, Dr. Bacon and Don Jackson opened the doors to the Colville Community Health Center, housed in the expanded and remodeled location of Colville Community Dental Clinic - a joint venture in providing "easy to access, easy to understand" primary care, as Dr. Bacon defines it. The clinic is the answer to the disparity in access to care for those who are uninsured or underinsured. It offers a sliding scale for self-pay patients as Bacon says: "thinking outside the clinical model to reach out into the community and change outcomes for people." The mission of the center is “To ensure that a comprehensive range of high quality care is available to best meet the health care needs of the people residing in our service area.”

Operating under the umbrella of North East Washington Health Programs, the clinic targets the missed demographic of patients who have had nowhere else to turn. NEW Health Programs was founded to address all of the primary medical needs of the whole community, offering not only the sliding scale, but access to lab work through Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories, and accepting a wide spectrum of insurance plans. Keeping ahead of illness and injury in the community is the goal. "A solid primary care base is the best value," Dr. Bacon says, to curb the demand for urgent care and afford better outcomes for all patients.

The building is still undergoing remodeling to accommodate the growing practice, and while the program hit the ground running, Dr. Bacon says that there will be growing pains and asks for the patience of the community. In addition to Dr. Bacon and Don Jackson, plans are in the works to add another Physician's Assistant in the near future to help with expansion plans. While the study conducted in 2013 and the goal of the clinic specifically target high risk maternity patients, children under five years old and other at-risk demographics, Dr. Bacon says the idea is to "create a place where everyone can access care." Until now, he goes on, "people either aren't accessing care or they are going outside of the community to get care," a problem that he sees as solvable with the clinic.

The opening of the clinic in January fell less than 6 months after the decision to launch the program, a speedy time frame that Dr. Bacon credits to the motivation and organization of NEW Health Programs and their commitment to community solutions. As their practice grows, Dr. Bacon looks forward to meeting the widely varied needs of the rural Stevens County area. The response so far has been positive, as new and old patients find out about the new clinic and fresh approach to providing primary health care in the area.

In addition to his full time practice at the clinic, Dr. Bacon also put his skills to work in Africa, serving in populations that include the second highest maternal mortality rate and the fourth highest infant mortality rate in the world. He works to both treat and train local doctors in the care of high-risk mothers and premature babies, as well as developing protocols for medical care in resource-poor communities in the region.

Dr. Bacon and the staff at Colville Community Health Center invite you to come see the great things happening in Colville, and discover how accessible health care can be with a community minded organization and providers with a genuine interest in the outcomes of their patients. The clinic is located at 370 N Main Street in Colville, or you can reach them at 509-684-1440.  More information is available at newhp.org.