La máquina, está abierta las 24 horas del día frente a la clínica de OCH en The Dalles, ubicada en 1040 calle Webber, es la primera en el lado de Oregón en Mid Columbia.
The vending machine, open 24 hours a day outside OCH’s The Dalles clinic, located at 1040 Webber St., is the first one on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge.
La máquina, está abierta las 24 horas del día frente a la clínica de OCH en The Dalles, ubicada en 1040 calle Webber, es la primera en el lado de Oregón en Mid Columbia.
The vending machine, open 24 hours a day outside OCH’s The Dalles clinic, located at 1040 Webber St., is the first one on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge.
THE DALLES — A new wellness vending machine at One Community Health in The Dalles offers 24-hour access to free and low-cost items, including period packs, condoms, pregnancy tests and naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal medicine.
The vending machine is “a side passion project” that North Central Public Health District (NCPHD) Director Martha McInnes has worked on for the last two years.
She began the project when she was clinical program supervisor at NCPHD, and she worked on it as her schedule allowed. Her goal was to have it outside somewhere, to provide easy and confidential access.
North Central Public Health District (NCPHD) Director Martha McInnes
And while NCPHD purchased the grant-funded vending machine and obtains the products in it, the location that was settled on was One Community Health (OCH), at the corner of 10th and Webber.
The machine is on the west side of the building, sheltered from the elements under a wide overhang.
McInnes said the OCH site was picked because “it’s protected from the weather, it’s outside, it’s on camera and it’s centrally located.”
The machine takes both cash, card and phone tap. It is temperature-controlled, which is necessary to maintain the temperature requirements of naloxone that can’t get too hot or too cold.
One Community Health The Dalles Site Director Ian Schurr said OCH was “excited to partner with NCPHD to help support our community and save lives.”
Currently, a period pack costs $2 and includes tampons, pads and feminine wipes. It is meant to provide enough supplies for a period. It is a pretty good sized pack, McInnes said, and comes in a reusable plastic pouch. Also available for $2 currently is a large pack of hygiene wipes.
The new wellness vending machine, located at One Community Health in The Dalles, offers a variety of products that can be accessed 24/7.
Contributed photo
The pregnancy tests currently cost $1. The prices cover what NCPHD pays for them. “We’re not making money off this vending machine, it’s a community service,” McInnes said.
The naloxone (brand name Narcan) and condoms are currently free, since both are paid for via state grants.
The cost of items may change as costs to NCPHD change.
“We are working on partnering with other organizations to provide additional products at no cost,” she added.
McInnes anticipates the items available in the vending machine will change over time based on community needs.
The idea for a wellness vending machine — which has become popular on college campuses across the U.S. — came several years ago “in a conversation with one of our state partners brainstorming how to increase access outside of normal business hours,” McInnes said.
NCPHD “can only offer so much access at our clinic,” she said. And the items are cost prohibitive in other places. The brainstorming session revolved around the idea that “they should be open and accessible. How do we provide something open and accessible?”
That started a long process of “looking at creative ways to increase access to needed products, when people need them.” There were lots of vending machines to choose from, and then it was a process of finding the best location for it, she said.
“When I was seeking a location, OCH stepped up,” she said.
Skyline Hospital in White Salmon also has a wellness vending machine, but this is the first one on the Oregon side of the Gorge, McInnes said.
“Wellness and harm reduction vending machines are becoming a common creative solution,” McInnes said.
It was a long process, but McInnes said she was glad she did it. “It’s been a labor of love.”
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