POLSON - A few months after opening for service, the brand new Tribal Health Building held an open house last Wednesday for all to explore the interior of the three-story structure on the corner of 1st St. West and Third Ave in Polson.

"This place is a very special place, a place of healing," Tribal Health and Human Services Director Kevin Howlett said as he spoke at the open house. "This is not the end of what we do in tribal health; it is the beginning..."

The building, to say the least, is impressive: Built in the same style as the Tribal Complex in Pablo, the structure contains 23,000 square feet, dwarfing the 1,800 square foot clinic that once stood in Polson. Sunlight streams into the main waiting room, where Howlett said the old clinic could have fit.

"I want it to be nice," Howlett said. "It belongs to the people."

There are certainly plenty of people taking advantage of the new facility. Assistant health director Nancy Vaughn said the user population is 11,000 people, and with the services available, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have greatly expanded what can be done on-site.

"I have been doing this for 34 years, so this is special," Howlett said, mentioning that tribal elders performed a traditional blessing at the site before the building opened for business. "We dreamt big."

The dream included bringing an optometrist who sells glasses at cost, a full dental clinic that provides everything except bridge and crown work and a full physical therapy area, replete with brand new, state-of-the-art equipment. And don't forget the digital X-ray machine, which allows technicians to send visuals to a radiologist off-site in the blink of an eye.

"I haven't had this nice equipment in 15 years," optometrist Clint Hoxie said. "I'm glad I don't have to go elsewhere for eye exams and materials."

Keeping money within the tribes is a huge incentive, Howlett said. By providing an expanding array of services, money stays in the local economy and benefits all areas of the community, he said.

"Health care is a huge industry and it's tough when you have limited resources," Howlett said. "I want children to dream of becoming a physician, an optometrist, a dentist, an X-ray tech."

Howlett said the building cost $2.7 million to construct, another $1 million in equipment and $1 million in staff costs.

"This building was paid for before we turned a shovel of dirt," he said.

The event brought many community members out to socialize and take a tour of the structure. Highlights of the building include spacious waiting rooms, a play area for children, break rooms on each floor for staff members and a large conference room on the third floor. The conference room, which can be cordoned off into sections, has already proved valuable for the tribes. Earlier this spring, while the Tribal Natural Resources building underwent asbestos abatement, employees of the department set up office space in the conference room, conveniently located just down the block from their building.

The third floor also houses administrative offices, including one for Director Howlett, the physical therapy area and offices for Alcohol and Drug Treatment counselors. Many of the doctors visit other clinics throughout the reservation, but the new Polson clinic will serve as more of a base for most now.

When Vaughan compared the old pharmacy to a closet, the magnitude of how big a remodel the clinic has undergone hit home.

"They get mad because they say they have to walk so far across the room," Vaughn said of the pharmacists. "But really, they love it."