By Marc Bouvier American politicians need to keep working on national health care. Forty million Americans, one-third of them children, have no health insurance and this number is increasing by more than a million each year. Further, the inefficiency in the health care industry results in nearly a quarter of the cost going to administration. Even if Congress agreed tomorrow to create a complete health care system, one where no one would be neglected, it would take years to implement. But it's not impossible. A small clinic in Oregon has demonstrated for twenty-five years that low cost, high-quality health care can be made available to even the most economically disenfranchised. White Bird Clinic opened in February, 1970 when two University of Oregon graduate psychology students saw people on the streets of Eugene who needed mental and medical care. By the end of the first year, with close to 100 volunteers and a small paid staff, they created a crisis line, a drop-in center for people who had bad drug experiences, and a clinic where doctors saw walk-ins once a week. White Bird began like many other free clinics founded around the nation during the late '60s and early '70s. Many of these clinics have folded, others have ceased to rely on volunteers, and some, like the famed Haight Ashbury clinic, have survived by providing very specialized services. Few remaining clinics manage the diversity of services that White Bird does. White Bird offers free 24-hour crisis intervention counseling, and help in finding the appropriate assistance from the wide variety of agencies and programs in the County. White Bird has become known in the community for providing low-cost and free medical treatment, includPage 2 RAIN Summer 1996 Volume XV, Number 1 li ic ing exams, medication and lab testing. The clinic also was the first to offer anonymous AIDS testing in the County. In an effort to improve services for lower income residents, White Bird has opened a new, inexpensive dental treatment center. Low-cost counseling is available through White Bird for individuals and couples. Recently the agency has begun an outpatient chemical dependency program that includes both acupuncture treatments and counseling sessions. Many of the people who provide White Bird's services are volunteers who have been trained in White Bird's own School of Human Service. Nearly everyone involved with White Bird spends time on the crisis line. Most new trainees tend to want to solve the caller's problem. Although they may resolve the immediate issue, they may not address what put the caller in crisis. One White Bird trainer says, "We want our volunteers to learn that it's not enough to just patch a person up and send them back out. We have to assist each person calling to develop tools to deal with the problem in its larger context." Beyond this basic philosophy, the counseling or medical approach is as unique as the particular practitioner. White Bird has conventional and naturopathic physicians on staff and some do nutrition counseling. Some counselors apply rather more esoteric practices such as tarot or astrology in their work.
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