A branch of the Ko-Kwel Wellness Center has opened up in Eugene to provide medical healthcare to American Indian and Alaska Native tribes.

The Ko-Kwel Wellness Center, whose flagship location is in Coos Bay, is a healthcare facility that serves specifically American Indians and Alaskan Natives of the 574 federally recognized tribes. 

The main purpose of the Ko-Kwel Wellness Center is to provide medical healthcare to members of tribes that are unable to receive healthcare at standard hospitals and medical facilities.

“We noticed that there were a lot of tribal members that were unable to make it to Coos Bay, and that was the driving force,” Jason Younker, Chief of the Coquille Indian Tribe and UO Assistant VP and Advisor on Sovereignty and Government-to-Government Relations, said. “We knew that lots of American Indians and Alaska Natives needed to travel far to take advantage of Indian health services, which are federally funded.”

According to Younker, their main reason for opening a branch of the Ko-Kwel Center in Eugene was its large American Indian and Alaska Native population. The Ko-Kwel Wellness Center’s second largest tribal member population is in Lane County, and it has five county service districts in and around Lane County that provide ease for members living in Lane County that do not have to travel to Coos Bay.

Another population served by the Eugene Ko-Kwel Center are UO students who are members of American Indian and Alaskan Native tribes.

“There are native students at the University of Oregon that now have a place to go where the insurance that they carry with them from their home tribes is available locally,” Younker said. “The Ko-Kwel responded to the need not only for tribal members but for many tribal students that we consider visitors or guests.”

According to Younker, one of the biggest benefits and services of the Ko-Kwel Wellness Center is that any citizen of a federally-recognized tribe that walks into their doors will never leave with a bill. All of their services are absolutely free to American Indian and Alaska Native tribal members. 

At other universities, this is not the case for students that belong to other tribes that don’t provide healthcare at their school’s location, Younker said.

According to Younker, his own daughter, who attends the University of Alabama, was not able to receive healthcare, as the Poarch Band of Creek Indians tribe in Alabama does not provide medical assistance to tribal members outside of their own tribe.

“We want to make sure that everyone knows that that kind of service is available to any tribes that send their precious students to the University,” Younker said of the new Eugene location.

Affordability has been one of the main issues for American Indian and Alaska Native tribal members, and, according to Younker, there are historical traumas that are passed down from generations that don’t exist with other populations.

“Mental health services, depression, diabetes and all of the sorts are genetically passed down and related to historical traumas,” Younker said. “We want to be very understanding of other tribes and we know that healthcare isn’t anything you can measure in a way that will cover everybody, but we want to try and reach the populations that we can serve.”