Everyone Village, Eugene’s largest transitional housing community, opened an on-site medical clinic Tuesday.
More than 100 people gathered in West Eugene to see the new, two-room primary care clinic and tour the 10 recuperation cottages which opened in June. It’s an innovative model, meant to serve unhoused people recovering from hospital procedures, and residents of the 70 Everyone Village units.
Jim McGovern is Chief Hospital Executive at PeaceHealth, which covered the clinic’s costs of daily operations. He said Volunteers in Medicine will provide the clinicians.
“To have somebody who can deliver healthcare, can see people right here is just, I think, a phenomenal step in the right direction for health care," McGovern told KLCC. "Go to where people are, especially if they're challenged to get to you.”
Students from Eugene 4J’s Future Build program constructed the clinic, and University of Oregon students are building a nearby kitchen. The community is a collaboration between dozens of partner organizations, and also includes a thriving garden, beehives, and chickens.
McGovern said Everyone Village could be a template for transitional housing campuses in other locations.
