Summit Pacific Medical Center
- Project Title: Summit Pacific MAT Clinic Expansion Program
- Grant Period: RCORP-MAT Grantee (09/2019 – 08/2022)
- Program Representative Interviewed: Shawn Andrews, MD, Ambulatory Medical Director
- Location: Elma, Washington
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Program Overview: Summit Pacific Medical Center is a Critical Access Hospital
(CAH) in Washington State dedicated to providing low-barrier medication-assisted treatment (MAT)
services through their MAT clinic. The program had multiple providers with MAT waivers in place
prior to starting the program, to ensure they could meet demand. Over 600 patients are receiving
MAT services through Summit Pacific Medical Center's program. Patients can self-refer to the
program or walk in to the MAT clinic. The program also takes emergency department referrals. In
addition to MAT, the program provides sexually transmitted infection (STI) and pregnancy
screenings and urgent basic primary care services.
The program uses a nurse care manager model which allows nurses to provide care to patients and build relationships and trust with the patient population. The clinic is located on the bus line, so patients can easily access the clinic via public transportation. To ensure access, the program is often able to provide bus tokens to patients so they can travel to and from appointments and also offers hybrid telehealth and in-person services. The program allows patients to enroll even if the program does not accept their insurance, and provides help changing insurance to ensure long term access, and is dedicated to providing low-barrier, accessible MAT services to the local community.