SEQUIM — Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe leaders say once their planned Jamestown Salish Seasons psychiatric evaluation and treatment clinic is completed this summer, construction will move to start the tribe’s new dental clinic.
Permitting is under review with the city of Sequim to move the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe Family Dental Clinic in Blyn to the 800 block of North Fifth Avenue next to the Jamestown Family Health Clinic.
The project is proposed to include a 15,740-square-foot, single-story building with 96 parking stalls on 2.8 acres.
Vicki Wallner, Jamestown Healthcare project manager, said the tribe plans to continue construction with its contractor, Korsmo, on an anticipated 12-month timeline.
City staff received one public comment during the project’s State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) approval process late last year, which came from the Jamestown’s Tribal Historic Preservation Office stating that they intend to conduct a cultural resource survey prior to ground-disturbing work.
Dr. Bri Butler, the tribe’s dental clinic director, said the new clinic would nearly double available appointments per day for both children and adults.
Pediatric appointments currently have a waitlist until September, she said.
The Blyn dental clinic, at 1033 Old Blyn Highway, opened in 2004 and expanded in 2017 to add more dental chair areas.
It now has nearly 2,700 patients younger than 19 and nearly 3,100 patients older than 20.
Cindy Lowe, Jamestown Healthcare senior advisor, said the number of families seeking appointments is more than they can currently see, and with the clinic by Sequim Bay, the tribe wouldn’t be able to expand the existing building enough.
Along with added space and operatories, Wallner said the new clinic would offer separate waiting areas for pediatric and adult patients with a play area for children.
Lowe said they’ll run a pediatric clinic for patients up to age 19 on one side and adults 20 and older on the other.
Due to the current limited space, once children’s adult teeth come in, they are transferred to general dentistry, taking away appointment spaces for adults, Lowe said.
Early dental health
Butler said they want patients to have a “dental home” where there is a positive relationship between patients and staff with an environment that is welcoming and encouraging of good dental health early on.
As Clallam County’s only practicing pediatric-certified dentist, she sees about 150 children from Neah Bay to Port Townsend each week.
“I love working with kids, and I wanted to make it a really good experience,” she said. “So many people have dental fears, and I want to try to make it the best experience for a kid.”
Some of those positive, personal touches include games in the waiting room and coin-prize machines once they finish appointments.
Butler said during dental school she made dentures for patients and felt a drive to encourage younger people to take care of their teeth early on.
“She has really worked hard to make (the clinic) have a good balance between services for grownups and a fun place where kids want to go to the dentist,” Lowe said.
Butler, originally from Mukilteo, did a month rotation in Sequim during her schooling and later reached out to the tribe to see if she could work with them at the clinic to help children.
“I knew they didn’t have anyone, and I wanted to go somewhere I was needed,” she said.
“I grew up coming out here … the way of life is a draw to me.”
To earn a pediatric dentistry speciality degree, Butler attended two additional years of school. She said many local general dentists see children too, and, if needed, they can refer patients to her if they have certain medical and/or behavioral needs.
When the tribe first started the clinic, Lowe said some dental clinics did not accept Medicaid coverage for children, but the tribe did, and that was a big draw.
With coverage under Apple Health, Butler hopes it encourages teenagers to keep going to the clinic as well.
“We want to give patients a really good experience, especially in children’s dentistry,” Lowe said.
“You don’t want kids to have any bad experiences early on to make them be afraid of having services. We see so many adults who are scared to get in a dentist’s chair because they had a bad experience (as a child).”
Dental clinic
Jamestown’s dental clinic started as a small operation primarily for tribal citizens and some community members.
Lowe said with Jamestown being a relatively small tribe of a few hundred people, they’ve gone on to add thousands of local patients.
Expanding and moving the clinic was discussed prior to 2020, Butler said, but COVID-19 caused the tribe to refocus priorities before restarting efforts on the project. The process has been collaborative, she said.
“I was able to take things I liked and didn’t like and then hopefully convey that but also make sure we’re serving the tribal citizens and the general dentistry community as well, not just kids,” she said.
With a new clinic, the tribe will upgrade its equipment as much as possible, staff said, with possible additions such as digital x-rays and specialized services.
“Going back to that (idea of a) dental home, we’re trying to give people the best care that we can without them having to go to Seattle or Bremerton,” Butler said.
Along with expanded space will come more staff. Butler said they’ll look to bring staffing up to 40 or 45, including more dentists.
One of the challenges she’s concerned about is finding qualified people, particularly in a rural area, but with Peninsula College planning to create a dental hygiene program, she said she’s optimistic.
“That will be helpful, and it will provide jobs that are great for the area,” Butler said.
“Because we live in a rural area, it’s hard to find professionals, but I’m hoping this amazing clinic will draw people as well as just being a beautiful place to live. It’s what drew me.”
For more information about the clinic, visit jamestownfamilydentalclinic.com.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. He can be reached by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
