Coastal Family Healthcare is expanding with a new building on Marine and 23rd. (Jasmine Lewin/The Astorian)

Coastal Family Healthcare will be greatly expanding their space and services with a new building on Marine and 23rd, slated to open this December.

Previously, staff had been located in the Park Building on Exchange Street, along with several other practices.

When Yakima Valley Farmworkers Clinic purchased and began running the Coastal Family Healthcare space in 2017, staff were already keeping an eye out for opportunities to expand.

As a Federally Qualified Health Center, Yakima Valley Farmworker’s Clinic is required to provide services to everyone on a sliding fee based on income, the minimum payment being $10 for a visit. Because of that, their clinics across Oregon and Washington see a significant number of low-income patients.

But in Astoria, the organization has seen more homeless patients than anywhere else. And about half the patients seen at the Coastal Family Healthcare center are below the federal poverty level.

“It really underscores that we’re here for the entire community,” said Gina Adrien, the vice president of communications for Coastal Family Healthcare. “What makes us special, really, is that we are mission driven to help people out of poverty and into wellness.”

To help fulfill that mission by ensuring space for wrap-around services, Yakima Valley Farmworker’s Clinic purchased the new property off 23rd Street in 2020, and began planning for an expanded clinic in 2021 and 2022. Construction began in 2024.

Funding for the $15.5 million project is a combination of self-funding and awarded allocations through the New Market Tax Credit process from two Community Development Entities contributing to the project — Ecotrust and Wells Fargo.

In order to receive those credits, staff had to go through a rigorous process that included submitting extensive information about the current services provided, the need for expanded services in the area, and how exactly Coastal Family Healthcare would meet that need.

“They don’t just give that out to any community,” said CEO Christy Trotter. “We have to show that there’s a true need for this tax-credit incentive.”

Headed by Neenan Construction, the two-story building will feature a drive-through pharmacy, 80 off-street parking spaces, dental services, behavioral, physical and mental health services, and other assets dedicated to serving patients holistically.

“We’re going to have integrated behavioral health, integrated dieticians, the understanding that this isn’t just a medical visit, this is a whole person visit,” Adrien said. “And the only way that people can access all of this care is through our medical services, right? So it’s not like, ‘well, I only want the behavioral health system.’ It is not an a la carte system of care, right? All (Federally Qualified Health Centers) really have this important wrap-around work, which is why this building was so necessary.”

Wraparound services are important in more ways than one; it’s not just a matter of patients conveniently being able to avoid one more stop, but it can also help a care team coordinate to provide the best care for a patient.

“This care pod team is really important,” Trotter said. “So the nurses, the medical assistants, the providers, all these folks have easy access to one another, so that this patient isn’t having to wait for four weeks for all these referrals and all these appointments. It’s all happening inside the context of a single appointment.

“We’re mindful of the fact that people who are living in poverty don’t have a bunch of resources they don’t have, and that includes time, right? Getting to an appointment sometimes comes at great cost … The more we can make out of that hour they spend with us, the better it is that they’re going to be able to get back to their lives and get to wellness.”

And in the pharmacy, pharmacists will be able to work closely with medical and dental providers to ensure there are no medication complications. Trotter has heard from both providers and pharmacists about the value of having a close team relationship to troubleshoot any issues.

“I didn’t even realize the level of coordination that we can create that is being missed out on if you go to a Walgreens or somewhere else, because they don’t have that relationship with the provider,” she said. “And now, with the complexity of diseases, the sheer volume of drugs that are available now, you know, providers can’t be expected to know everything about this, which is why there needs to be a really strong relationship with the pharmacist.”

Dental services are also a big upgrade for the clinic. Previously, patients had to be referred to other dentistry services in the area, which often have long waitlists and narrow insurance networks.

Trotter also hopes that the new building — equipped with wide windows and an outdoor staff patio — will help create a more calm and spacious environment for healthcare workers, who often experience burnout due to the stressors for their work.

She said that the Yakima Valley Farmworkers Clinic has also given health care workers assistance with data entry by providing them scribes, lessening mundane tasks. Another priority is involving employees when making decisions as an organization, so that health care workers are “part of the process, and not just being dictated to.”

Coastal Family Healthcare is searching for applicants to help staff the new clinic, from nurses to dietitians to dentists to reception staff, and plans to hold a hiring event in August.

The status of Coastal Family Healthcare as a Federally Qualified Health Center means it must have a community-centered Board of Directors, with over half of the board members required to be patients at any one of the Yakima Valley Farmworkers Clinic locations. They hope to extend that community-centric model to their employees.

“Whenever we’re talking about hiring, we want to hire people who know and love Astoria,” Adrien said. “They’re more likely to stay here, they’re more likely to be committed … . We really want to engage the community, because community health centers are also economic drivers — we create jobs, we make sure those dollars stay in the community. And so we’re looking forward to ramping up our staffing.”

Construction on the building is expected to be finished in August, and services are slated to begin mid-December. As long as there are open slots, Trotter said, the only requirement to become a patient is to show up.