Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic at Othello Celebrates One Year Anniversary

It has been a monumental year since the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic (OBCC) Othello location opened its doors to patient families in March 2022 near the Othello Link light rail station in southeast Seattle’s Rainier Valley.

Since then, the clinic has provided quality care with dignity to more than 40,000 patients in the community through its innovative, integrated approach where services including pediatric medical care, behavioral health, dental services, nutrition, sports medicine, physical therapy, occupational therapy, x-ray and imaging and much more, all available under the same roof at the same appointment, if needed.

Many community-oriented events and key milestones have taken place in the year since the clinic opened. On the Pulse shares a look back and what’s to come.

In April, the Friends of OBCC Guild, an all-volunteer organization providing financial support, advocacy and community engagement to support OBCC, held a staff luncheon to celebrate the recent opening of the clinic.

In June, OBCC kicked off the summertime season by hosting Champions of Change, a foundation founded by three former Seattle Seahawks players and Super Bowl champions, Doug Baldwin, Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett. The group received a tour of the clinic and ended their visit by generously donating boxes of hygiene items and Nike shoes to the clinic’s Marketplace, an area of the clinic where families can collect  personal hygiene items.

 

On a sunny July day, the clinic hosted more than 500 people at an open house for families to participate in a day of fun and learning that included an injury prevention tent with life jackets, bike helmets, safe firearm storage and car passenger safety stations. OBCC and partners properly fitted and distributed nearly 456 safety items and gave away 135 safe firearm storage devices.

In August, OBCC held a fun-filled back-to-school and career resource fair event that included a walk-in clinic where attendees could receive COVID-19 vaccines, well-child check-ups, and back-to-school readiness exams such as sports physicals, without having to schedule in advance. The OBCC team also offered resources and information on career opportunities and job openings, internships, and volunteering.

In September, OBCC’s senior medical director, Dr. Shaquita Bell, was selected as the recipient of the 2022 Association of American Indian Physicians (AAIP) “Physician of the Year” award. The OBCC and Seattle Children’s workforce celebrated this great achievement with an award ceremony in honor of her longstanding commitment to the individual and collective health of Indigenous and multi-racial children and overall impact within her community.

In mid-October, the clinic hosted a dedication of the Lenny Wilkens Recreation Center to honor Lenny and Marilyn Wilkens, The Lenny Wilkens Foundation and family and friends for their decades of support.

In January of 2023, OBCC launched onsite radiology services for patients ages 0-21. This service is unique in that, although a doctor’s referral is required, families do not need to make an appointment and can simply walk-in at any time between 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to receive an X-ray.

In February, as part of OBCC’s Community Grand Rounds: The OBCC Town Hall Series, the clinic introduced the first ever Governance Council that works to provide strategic leadership to achieve equity, diversity and inclusion priorities, and plan for emerging initiatives. The council ensures that the needs and perspectives of the OBCC community inform decision-making.

Finally, just before the start of March, OBCC announced improvements to the Sickle Cell Disease Program by creating new pain management protocol and the expansion of psychosocial, neurological, scheduling and patient navigation support.

As the OBCC team reflects on the past year, they would like to extend their gratitude to all who have supported the clinic through the significant changes that strengthen the commitment to providing equitable and accessible care and advocating for children, regardless of a family’s ability to pay or their social, economic, and environmental circumstances. OBCC is eager to continue engaging with the community on a deeper level of understanding and compassion, just as Odessa Brown herself did.

For more on information on the many wonderful community events to come, please visit www.seattlechildrens.org/OBCC or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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