Quileute Health Center

560 Quileute Heights Loop

PO Box 189, La Push, WA 98350

(360)374-9035 or (800)364-2809

The Quileute Health Clinic has provided ambulatory medical services to the Quileute Indian Reservation for over 40 years. Services started out one day per week in a portable trailer with the doctor and nurse from the Neah Bay Service unit. It expanded to a small office in the Tribal center with very limited space, where services were provided one to two days a week.

Dental services started on the Reservation in the late '70s in a small dental clinic located outside of the Tribal business office. All health services were combined into the current medical/dental center; originally the Tribe's gym.

Continued growth and professional health services have contributes to the increased staffing level from the original 5 full-time employees to the current seventeen full-timers and 12 contract professional employees. These include:

• 2 Physician's Assistants (PAs)
• 2 nurses
• 2 medical assistants
• A Community Health Representative
• A part-time Medical Doctor who supervises the PAs and the OB/GYN womens' nurse practitioner
• 1 full-time dentist
• 1 part-time dentist
• 1 dental hygienist, 2 dental assistants, and numerous supporting staff for records, billing, and referrals contribute to the infrastructure of the medical program
• Specialty clinics, such as a nutritionist, podiatrist, chiropractic services, massage services, foot care, eye glass clinics, and shoe clinics for diabetics.
• A wellness instructor

In 2004, under the direction of Brenda Nielson, the Quileute Health Clinic was able to assume the administration of funding from the Indian Health Service (IHS) that was under the oversight of the Neah Bay Indian Health Service unit. As a result, the health clinic has been successful in obtaining alternative health care resources for 98% of all Tribal members and other natives living on the reservation. The benefit of obtaining other resources for individuals allows the Tribe to ensure that all urgent medical needs were met for all people seeking medical attention at the clinic.