Did you know that many people in medically-assisted treatment for drug abuse work to serve your needs?
Spread out between Port Angeles and Silverdale, my patients include an introspective man in middle management serving you in a big box store, an extremely hard-working and conscientious woman in a leadership position in a national crafts store and a skilled and somewhat shy foreman in a small factory.
A delightful and talented woman runs a commercial kitchen.
A young man who was adrift in a distant city returned home to start a new business, also finding his way to a more loving relationship with his parents.
These people, my patients, come to our clinic but once every couple of months.
Clinics like ours do not just pass out pills.
We require that our patients take responsibility for themselves, give back to the community, and become self-supporting if at all possible.
Our patients learn, if they are willing, what we humans have always known, that we belong to each other.
We aren’t islands.
We were never meant to be.
Our unsubsidized clinic here in Port Townsend requires payment at the time of service.
Like any independent business, we have to.
The people of Clallam County are fortunate that the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe has stepped up, along with Olympic Medical Center and Jefferson Healthcare, to provide this vital service for all in the community, regardless of ability to pay.
Let’s welcome them.
Douwe Rienstra, M.D.
Port Townsend