Pacific University Clinic Offers Affordable Primary Care and Much More

Those in need of primary medical evaluation and treatment but lacking adequate insurance coverage can receive comprehensive care for very low cost at the Pacific Psychology & Comprehensive Health Clinic, administered by Pacific University.

What began nearly three decades ago as the Pacific Psychology Clinic has expanded to become a one-stop suite of health services at clinic locations in downtown Portland (1411 SW Morrison, Ste. 310) and Hillsboro (222 SE 8th Ave., Ste. 212).

Primary care appointments, administered by the National College of Natural Medicine, are just $40 for the initial consultation, and $20 for each successive visit.

In addition to Western primary care and alternative medicine offerings, clients can also receive counseling therapy, physical therapy, speech-language therapy and occupational therapy at a single location. These services, provided on a sliding scale fee schedule, are administered by licensed practitioners and students within Pacific's schools of Professional Psychology, Physical Therapy, Communication Sciences and Disorders and Occupational Therapy.

The clinic's integrative model is designed to provide wholistic patient care in which providers who identify multiple issues can escort clients to other services, and subsequently collaborate with the other providers as needed to optimize all prescribed treatments.

Aaron Bergman, a mental health therapist at the Portland clinic last year, said the model of integrative care is especially important for those from underserved communities who have limited means to address multiple health issues, particularly if providers for different health issues are located throughout the city.

"For many clients, when things get difficult is when their medical concerns get deprioritized," he said. "Things like regular physician checkups or eye exams tend to get ignored for a long time. Here, when I identify other issues such as these, I can literally walk the client across the hall and get them set up with an appropriate provider, which tends to reduce their anxiety further."

Nikki Frederick, a psychology intern at the Hillsboro location, agreed and added that the clinic's design fosters better communication between all providers of a single patient.

"It’s very easy to schedule sessions with other providers," she said, adding that she and her psychology colleagues accompany clients to their first appointments with other care providers to ensure they have a complete picture of a client's situation.

"We are really striving to achieve a much higher level of competency in coordinating total patient care so we don't overburden the clients with the redundancy and burden of having to explain their situation multiple times to providers based at different locations," she said.

The Portland location of the Pacific Psychology & Comprehensive Health Clinic recently began accepting Oregon Health Plan insurance. To schedule an appointment in Portland, please call 503-352-2400. To make an appointment at the Hillsboro location, please call 503-352-7333. For more information, visit pchpacificu.org.