KLICKITAT — When Klickitat High School senior Auni Lester realized how limited healthcare access was in her rural hometown, she didn’t wait for someone else to solve the problem — she stepped up and helped create a solution.
Student Auni Lester (left) and La Clínica Mobile Clinic provider Family Nurse Practitioner Middy Tilghman (right).
Contributed photo
Through her initiative, One Community Health’s mobile medical unit, La Clínica, now visits Klickitat monthly, offering essential services to residents of all ages. The partnership, launched in February, was made possible through Lester’s collaboration with One Community Health and Klickitat School District.
In Klickitat and other rural areas of the Columbia Gorge, access to care is often out of reach — there is no local medical clinic, and families must travel long distances or miss work to obtain basic health services. Concerned about this gap, particularly for children, Lester reached out to explore local solutions.
The mobile clinic now sets up at the Klickitat Community Center, delivering a range of free or low-cost care, including preventive and primary services, pediatric checkups, immunizations, urgent care, vision screenings, behavioral health consultations, testing for diabetes and COVID-19, and assistance with insurance navigation and benefit access. Services are open to all community members, regardless of income, age, or insurance status.
“The need for local care was clear,” Lester said. “People shouldn’t have to leave town or skip work just to get a check-up, and children shouldn’t go without healthcare. I wanted to help bring something lasting and helpful to Klickitat, and One Community Health was the ideal partner with their mobile clinic.”
Since February, local response has been growing. Recent clinic visits have included some dental screenings, vaccination consultations, and expanded resource support through other area partners.
Klickitat High School graduating class of 2025 Oriona Atchley, left, and Auni Lester, right, outside La Clínica Mobile Clinic.
Contributed photo
Lester’s classmate Oriona Atchley, who also hopes to pursue a career in healthcare, has joined the project and participated in job shadowing with One Community Health. These two students — who make up the entire Klickitat High School Class of 2025 — have created a lasting impact in their community through shared leadership and interests in healthcare service.
Lester will attend Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, this fall to begin pre-medical studies with the goal of becoming a physician. Atchley will begin her nursing studies at Columbia Gorge Community College, continuing her passion for helping others. Their story demonstrates the power of rural youth to lead meaningful change.
This project now serves as a model for other small communities across the Columbia Gorge. With continued community use, La Clínica can remain a vital, accessible resource for local health and wellness alongside other One Community Health offerings in the area.
On July 30, the Mobile Medical Unit will be back in Klickitat to do sports physicals for area school athletes. Call the MMU to schedule at 541-386 4553. For more information about La Clínica and up-coming dates and service locations, visit www.onecommunityhealth.org/laclinica.
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