Ocean Park Clinic and Pharmacy

If you’ve ever had the experience of feeling oh-so-sick and had to get yourself to the doctor’s office thirty minutes away, you know what it has been like for the last 150 years for us at the North End of the Peninsula.  Well… that may be a bit of an optimistic statement.   Change that 150 to 100.  In the 1850s to the early 1900s, my great-grandfather’s time, the nearest doctor was across the bay in the Bruceport area.  He made house calls but it took days, not minutes, for him to arrive.

By the time my mother was a toddler in the 19-teens, there was a doctor in Astoria – a mere three-hour train ride and hour-long boat ride away.  And, by the time she was a teen, Dr. Paul had established himself in Ilwaco.  He, too, made house calls when necessary, arriving in his spiffy ‘machine’ (was it a Model A?) but it might take most of the day to get to Oysterville, especially in the muddy-road-season.

There have been periods of time when doctors have had their offices as close-by as Long Beach and, for some years, the hospital was actually in Seaview – but for years now, Ilwaco has been the go-to place for those of us on the Peninsula who might need medical attention.  Thankfully, for nearly a half-century, we’ve had a pharmacy (and its wonderful, knowledgeable pharmacists!) in Ocean Park – but getting to a doctor’s office has been another matter entirely.

Not any more!  Yesterday was the ribbon-cutting for the new state-of-the art clinic at the northeast corner of the main intersection in Ocean Park.  (I wonder if that area of town will still be known as ‘Jack’s Corner’ or if, eventually, the clinic will become the main landmark in downtown O.P.)  In a watershed collaboration between Peninsula Pharmacies and the Ocean Beach Hospital we now have a medical facility just minutes away.  (For us in Oysterville, it is only nine minutes from our door to the clinic parking lot!)

And, should anyone doubt (but why would they?) that we at the North End are appreciative, I’m here to report that there was Standing Room Only at the dedication yesterday. This wonderful new Pharmacy/Clinic building is one sign of progress that all of us can embrace!  Hallelujah!