Vol. 15, No. 2, Winter 2001/02

Potawot Health Village Opens

Shevi Berlinger

Three northwestern California Indian health clinics have joined forces to make a new home at the Potawot Health Village in Arcata. Potawat’s doors opened on September 19, with the facility serving ninety patients and filling more than two hundred prescriptions. After the initial rush, the opening was celebrated with a private blessing for the staff on September 24.

The 42,000 square-foot facility is owned and operated by the United Indian Health Services (UIHS). It replaces the Trinidad, Cutten, and Sunny Brae facilities and offers an increased number of staff, expanded medical services, a traditional sweathouse and dance pit, and a wellness garden on its forty-acre site.

Potawot is the Wiyot name for what is now called Mad River; the health center is built on ancestral Wiyot land. One of the most remarkable aspects of the new facility is that it was designed to recall the traditional tribal architecture of the region. In addition, the surrounding land and interior courtyard have been developed and landscaped with indigenous plants. The aim, according to UIHS project director Jerome Simone, was to create a holistic facility that would serve as a gathering as well as healing place for the community. "Health care goes beyond a building. This is total health care," said Simone.

The UIHS started as a consortium of nine local tribes in 1970. A private, non-profit, Indian-owned health organization, it provides a multitude of services including emergency medical, dental, mental health, obstetrics, and health awareness programs. Its tobacco awareness and diabetes prevention programs are nationally acclaimed and will be offered at the new facility.

Planning for Potawot started when UIHS staff realized they needed a facility that “would be more centrally located for our patients and closer to the local hospital,” recalled Simone. Potawot is ideally located at the intersection of Routes 101 and 299, and is adjacent to the Mad River Community Hospital. Turning the idea of the village into a reality has been a "dream come true," said Simone.

The project started in 1996 when the UIHS bought the land. At that time, the parcel was zoned for agricultural use, its wetlands having been filled in for cattle grazing. The city of Arcata approved rezoning and set aside twenty acres for the health complex and another twenty acres for wetland restoration. The goal was "to do appropriate development--politically and culturally," said Jerome, a plan that "evolved as we learned about the land."

Potawat’s twelve buildings are built to look like an Indian village. They form a multifunctional space that bridges traditional styles with modern technology. Project coordinator Laura Kadlecik called it "a concrete monument to local Indian redwood-plank construction," with walls that look like the wooden planks of traditional Northwestern California houses but that are made of concrete and steel. Each wall was raised as a complete piece using concrete tilt-up technology. A recent visitor even marvelled that the buildings "look like they’ve been there a thousand years!" according to Yvonne Bones-Ibarra, who works as Simone’s assistant.

The "gathering room," which functions as the lobby and intake station, is lined with recycled redwood planks. The main corridor, called Walk of the Elders, doubles as an art gallery. In a small, sheltered courtyard within the circular complex, the wellness garden features a creek, benches, trees, and native plants. Outside, there are walking trails with stations for "culturally appropriate exercises," such as a salmon net pull and huckleberry picking, said Kadlecik.

Potawot will serve the 15,000 residents of Humboldt and Del Norte Counties and function as a feeder site for remote clinics in the region. "We average around 3,600 medical patients now for all facilities, but the number will probably go up to 5,000," said Bones-Ibarra. Staff are still figuring out the logistics of communications, but spirits are high. "This is an amazing place to work," said Bones-Ibarra. And next time you’re in Arcata, be sure to check Potawot out!