Eugene’s White Bird Clinic says its newest facility fills a gap in community services when it comes to treating addiction.
Fully funded through Oregon Measure 110, White Bird says the operation is the first in the area to offer both harm reduction and drug treatment under one roof.
The newly renovated building, located at 647 Polk St., sees up to 40 clients a day. It holds several counseling rooms, a resource check-out service and a mass spectrometer device that can test drugs for potentially harmful additives like fentanyl.
With the ability to detect the presence of undesirable or harmful chemicals within a drug sample, the machine allows users to make more informed decisions regarding their substances. It’s one of the only machines of its kind in Oregon.
“This is going to be one of our new ways that we can help out our community and help reduce the harm and effect of drugs in our community,” said Gretchen Dandurand, White Bird’s Drug Checking Technician.
The checking process will be both quick and anonymous, with Dandurand estimating that samples will be returned to clients after only 15 minutes.
Along with increased knowledge of the substances they’re using, clients at the facility also have access to a number of harm reduction tools such as fentanyl and xylazine test strips as well as Narcan, a drug overdose reversal medicine.
“This is one of the most beneficial things that we could do,” said one of the facility’s project managers Larry Weinerman. “We teach our clients how to use (Narcan) if they don’t already know, and we give it out on an almost as-needed basis.”
For Weinerman, the combination of education, prevention, and treatment is vital to saving lives within the community, and acts as the inspiration behind combining all three at the new operation.
“Harm reduction is treatment,” said Weinerman. “It’s the first rung of treatment. If people are dead they can’t get clean.”
For clients who wish to begin long-term drug treatment, a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor also staffs the facility. The service is low barrier, with clients guaranteed to have begun their first steps of the program within 24 hours of applying.
The White Bird Harm Reduction and Treatment Facility is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
