NCPHD Partners with One Community Health on Community Wellness Vending Machine

NCPHD Partners with One Community Health on Community Wellness Vending Machine
PSA - NCPHD se asocia con One Community Health para crear una máquina expendedora de bienestar comunitario

Date:              May 15, 2025
To:                  All Media
From:              Martha McInnes, Director, North Central Public Health District
Contact: Mikey Goyette, Communications Coordinator and PIO, mikeyg@ncphd.org

North Central Public Health District (NCPHD) is happy to announce the opening of The Dalles’ first community health and wellness vending machine in partnership with One Community Health (OCH). The vending machine, open 24 hours a day outside OCH’s The Dalles clinic, located at 1040 Webber Street, is the first one on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge. Health and wellness vending machines are intended to increase access to affordable health and wellness products, particularly items that may be needed discreetly, urgently, or after hours.

NCPHD will fund, maintain, and stock the machine, while OCH will house it. The items offered will be dynamic and changing based on community needs and product availability. Currently, the machine offers Naloxone (also known by the brand name Narcan), condom packs, pregnancy tests, menstrual supply packs, and hygiene wipe packs. All of the products offered are free or priced well below retail prices.

Planning and work on the project started over two years ago when NCPHD Director, then Clinical Supervisor, Martha McInnes saw the opportunity to make it happen through state grant funding. McInnes said, “These machines are growing in popularity but, as we saw, they are very hard to launch. I knew if we were going to do it, I wanted it done right. That meant free and affordable products easily accessible 24/7. It was a long road, but we’re proud to have it open up to those standards today.”

One of the many difficulties in the process was finding a fitting location for the machine. “When I was seeking a location, OCH stepped up,” McInnes said. The machine is on the building’s west side, sheltered from the elements under an overhang and easily accessible from 10th Street. McInnes said the OCH site was picked because “it’s protected from the weather, on camera, centrally located, and outside.”

OCH The Dalles Site Director Ian Schurr said, “We are excited to partner with NCPHD to help support our community and save lives.”

(For more information, please contact North Central Public Health District at (541) 506-2600, visit us on the web at www.ncphd.org or find us on Facebook.)

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