Olympic Peninsula Community Clinic reports growth in West End services, co‑response partnerships

Olympic Peninsula Community Clinic representative Helen Williams reported to the Clallam County Behavioral Health Advisory Board on May 13 that OPCC expanded clinical and outreach services across the peninsula in 2024, including a new full‑time office in Forks and an increase in volunteer clinical hours.

Why it matters: County officials and partner agencies described OPCC’s co‑response work with law enforcement, code enforcement and public health as central to connecting people experiencing homelessness or behavioral‑health crises to care and housing supports.

Williams said OPCC recorded almost 14,000 encounters in 2024 and served nearly 2,500 patients, with a reported 98% connection‑to‑services rate. She told the board the clinic reopened its dental clinic to a near full‑time schedule (two to three clinics per month), and increased its medical‑respite capacity from four to six beds. “We don’t just refer people; we actually take them to the appointments they need,” Williams said.

Williams highlighted a new full‑time Forks office that provides behavioral‑health services and periodic jail outreach in the West End, and described a partnership with Jamestown Healing Clinic to provide transportation from Forks to Clallam Bay for patients. She said OPCC’s Rediscovery outreach and social‑services program served about 1,300 people with roughly 9,000 encounters and achieved a 70% connection‑to‑services rate within that program.

Multiple law‑enforcement and county partners praised the clinic’s role in resolving persistent encampment and code‑violation problems. A county law‑enforcement representative said OPCC staff attending local code‑enforcement meetings helped rehouse a person living at a long‑problem property on Dry Creek and assisted with camp cleanup and outreach, calling the coordination “instrumental.”

Williams also described transport activity: OPCC reported 132 out‑of‑county transports in 2024 for medical care or to inpatient treatment, and noted the team operates with fewer than 20 full‑time staff supplemented by volunteers; volunteer provider hours increased by roughly 50% year‑over‑year, Williams said.

Public comment from Heather, identified as a community EMT with the Port Angeles Fire Department, invited board members and staff to quarterly ride‑alongs and station visits so partners could observe co‑response outreach, overdose responses and crisis contacts in the field. “I would like to put a name to the face,” Heather said, inviting board members to participate.

Board members repeatedly described OPCC’s partnerships — including Peninsula Behavioral Health, Rediscovery and county code enforcement — as critical to keeping people connected to care and preventing repeated 911 calls and criminal‑justice involvement. Several members urged continued support for transportation, in‑county tracking of transports and funding to sustain the clinic’s expanded services.

Williams closed by offering contact information and thanking the advisory board for the partnership.

Less central details: The board discussed membership vacancies and administrative items before and after the presentation; no formal board votes about funding for OPCC were taken at the meeting.