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Port Gamble S'Klallam outlines integrated tribal health center and community services to Kitsap board
Summary
Stacy Mills, assistant director of Port Gamble S'Klallam Health Services, told the Kitsap Public Health Board about the tribe's integrated 21,000-square-foot clinic in Kingston offering medical, dental, behavioral health, SUD treatment and a pharmacy (soft-opened), and discussed workforce partnerships and funding/billing constraints limiting expansion.
Stacy Mills, assistant director of Port Gamble S'Klallam Health Services, presented the tribe's integrated health center and community programs to the Kitsap Public Health Board on June 2.
Mills said the 21,000-square-foot facility in Kingston (locally called Little Boston) opened an expanded clinic building in 2021 and operates under a federal tribal self-governance compact with Indian Health Services (IHS). The center co-locates primary care, dental, behavioral health, an on-site pharmacy (soft-opened in February), a fitness center and workforce-development activities. "We really try to meet our patients where they are," Mills said, describing an interdisciplinary, "no wrong door" approach that integrates behavioral health, medical care and community health workers.
Mills outlined services that include medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder, peer-support teams, dental health aide therapists, a community health provider program and outreach such as home-based elder care, suicide-prevention trainings, and partnerships with Olympic College and local school districts for workforce pipelines.
On pharmacy access and billing, Mills said the pharmacy currently serves eligible clinic patients while the tribe finalizes payer enrollments; she said the tribe expects broader insurer access by about August once payor agreements are complete. Mills also described funding and billing complexities tied to IHS and federal funding streams and said streamlining billing would help expand capacity.
Board members praised the model and asked about expansion. Mills said the clinic serves roughly 1,800 members now and that, while the integrated model improves continuity of care, recruitment, retention and federal funding constraints limit rapid scale-up. She invited board members for site tours and noted continued outreach and partnerships to grow capacity.
Next steps: Mills and the board discussed future collaboration around workforce development and potential site visits; the presentation concluded with public recognition of the tribe's treaty obligations.
