Suquamish's Healing House clinic extending services to reach 'neediest in community'

SUQUAMISH — The Suquamish Tribe's primary care clinic, located in the brick-red Healing House building close to the tribe's government center and museum, is growing.

Open in March, the federally qualified health clinic has now extended its service to non-tribal patients with Medicaid, as well as the tribe's government staff, Port Madison Enterprises employees and their family members. Operated under Indian Health Service regulations, the clinic initially only served Suquamish tribal members and their families and then expanded service to other American Indian or Alaska Native tribal members or their descendants.

Now, weighing its workload, the clinic is ready to provide care to more patients in the community who may need medical care the most.

"The tribe is trying to take care of, I think, the neediest people in the community, the people that have the most trouble getting access to care," Stephen Kutz, Suquamish Tribe's health division director said. "They're trying to help fill that gap."

Patients with Medicaid are accepted by fewer healthcare providers compared with private insurance holders, according to a Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission report in 2019. Medicaid is a government-run health insurance program that provides coverage for low-income individuals, families with children, pregnant women, elderly individuals, and people with disabilities.

Integrative medicine

Walking into the clinic just off Suquamish Way, visitors see the sign of Healing House in English and the Lushootseed language at the reception desk, as well as an artwork from the Suquamish museum hung on the yellow-painted wall. The 4,100-square-foot Healing House consists of the reception area, four exam rooms, an acupuncture room, an equipment room, a procedure room, a break room, and office spaces for clinic staff and the tribe's community health division.

Some federal funding the Suquamish Tribe received due to the COVID-19 global pandemic helped it invest in the clinic, including the building, medical equipment, software and staffing, according to the tribe.

The medical clinic currently has two doctors, two nurses, a medical assistant, a receptionist and an office manager. As the facility is growing, the tribe has plans to hire more employees, said Kutz.

The clinic provides integrative medicine in which patients receive treatments ranging from conventional care to complementary medicine, such as acupuncture, naturopathic medicine, herbal medicine and nutritional guidance, "...which is really great for primary care because we're working on prevention and wellness," said Dr. Alex Kraft, ND, LAc, a naturopathic physician and acupuncturist at the clinic.

Kraft uses a combination of naturopathic principles, lifestyle modification and acupuncture to come up with personalized treatment plans for each patient. Another doctor at the clinic, Dr. Kristine Ewing, MD, provides primary care to patients of all ages with preventive medicine, chronic disease management, office-based procedures and women’s health.

It is rare to have an MD (doctor of medicine) and an ND (naturopathic doctor) under the same roof to provide care to patients, and the unique combination is what makes the Healing House clinic special in terms of the medical service it offers to the region, Ewing said.

"Historically, we're trained similarly, but differently enough that there's a lot of distrust, perhaps, between our specialties, and so the fact that we're under one roof in our small medical circles is pretty remarkable," Ewing said.

Ewing has lived in Kitsap since 2005 and has practiced at Naval Hospital Bremerton and the Virginia Mason clinic on Bainbridge Island before joining Healing House. She earned her medical degree from the University of California, San Diego and completed additional faculty development fellowship training at the University of Washington.

Kraft graduated from Bastyr University in Seattle, where he earned a naturopathic medicine degree and a Masters of Acupuncture. He operated a private clinic, worked in an integrative medical clinic and has worked with the tribe since 2014.

Comprehensive wellness

In addition to providing primary care to the community, Healing House is also intended as a place where tribal members get assistance to improve wellness and quality of life in ways that are outside the scope of medical care. Staff refers patients to various programs from the tribe for those who need additional resources like mental health counseling or housing.

"We coordinate care back and forth between our wellness clinic, which has mental health providers, which has substance use disorder providers, and has a psychiatric nurse practitioner that also runs a Medicaid assisted treatment program, so we coordinate all back and forth between all of these programs," Kutz said.

Overall, the clinic establishes a relationship with patients, helps people navigate the healthcare system and empowers them to take care of themselves, Ewing said.

The clinic opens Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and closes from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. for lunch. New patients with Medicaid insurance can call 360-394-1350 or email health_clinic@suquamish.nsn.us to schedule an appointment with the clinic.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Suquamish Tribe's Healing House opening for Medicaid patients