Community gives $11,000 for Lind Clinic improvements

ind made donations of $20 to $1,000 each and ultimately generated $11,000 for the purchase of new furniture and equipment in order to re-open the Lind Medical Clinic.

Board members of the Lind Health Center, Inc., organization, which owns the clinic building, gathered in the spruced up facility Tuesday to talk about the effort.

They had high praise for the community for coming forward to support the effort to prepare the clinic to be operational.

“Everything is very appreciated,” said Carla Bengston.

Doctors Charles M. Sackmann and Valerie Eckley and their business, Hometown Family Medicine, are the new tenants in the rural clinic. Members of the Lind Health Center said they are pleased to be able to open the clinic again in order for residents to have easy access to their doctors.

“We wanted to keep this clinic here with our doctors that we are used to having,” said Sharon Englehart. “So that our doctors have a place to practice. It’s difficult for some of our older residents to go to Ritzville. We felt moved to make this possible.”

The Lind Medical Clinic was first opened in the late 1950s following a community campaign to raise the funds to construct the building. At one time the clinic housed a physician and a dentist.

The Lind Health Center board ended its lease with the previous tenant, Adams County Public Hospital District No. 2, in June. Hometown Family Medicine opened the refurbished clinic on Tuesday, Oct. 4.

Howard Heil said the community’s generous contributions are a good sign.

“This community, whenever there is a need, has stepped up all the time,” he said.

The clinic has been repainted and has new furniture. Heil said several of the sinks were clogged and needed repairs. He did those himself. Heil even made new coat racks for the clinic.

Using the contributions the group purchased three exam tables that came with a price tag of $1,000 each.

“Anything that has an ‘M’ on it for medical gets pretty expensive,” Heil said.

The volunteer committee had to replace everything in the clinic, including paper towel holders and chart holders that had been mounted to the exam room doors.

Cliff Hays said the clinic is a vital part of the community, even if it’s open one day a week.

“There are a whole lot of people in Lind who are 90- to 95-years-old and they just can no longer drive to Ritzville,” he said.

Heil said the committee is still working to raise the funds to purchase a defibrillator. He expects the unit to cost between $1,500 and $1,800.

When the committee chose to move forward with making improvements to the clinic, they made a conscious decision to purchase the furniture and equipment.

“This time we own it all and still have a fully functioning clinic when these doctors retire or leave,” he said.

The Lind Health Center’s board includes Vi Holland, Sharon Lobe, Carla Bengston, Englehart, Heil and Hays.