Information campaign coming for Mattawa Community Medical Clinic district voters

MATTAWA — Mattawa Community Medical Clinic commissioners plan a more intensive information campaign following the rejection of a proposal to raise the amount collected through the district’s property tax levy. District voters voted down a similar proposal in 2025. 

Clinic commissioner Barbara Davis said voters probably didn’t have enough information. 

“People don’t realize Mattawa clinic is a hospital district,” Davis said. “We feel like there’s some confusion there.” 

The clinic is the sole operation of Grant County Hospital District 5, which is funded partly through its tax base, partly through patient revenue and partly through grant and other funding sources. 

District commissioners proposed a “levy lid lift” that would have increased the assessment to 75 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. The levy was rejected in the August primary election, receiving 347 no votes, about 57.7%, to 254 yes votes, about 42.3%.  

“We’ve had about the same amount of no votes every time we do a ballot measure,” Davis said.  

Since the proposal has been rejected multiple times, she said, commissioners want to take some time and review the proposal and their strategy.  ‘We decided to take a step back,” she said.  

The Mattawa Community clinic is not affiliated with the Wahluke Clinic, which is operated by the Columbia Basin Health Association. Davis said there seems to be confusion about which entity operates which clinic. 

The Mattawa Community clinic offers some services that aren’t available elsewhere in the Mattawa area, Davis said. It’s the only pharmacy in Mattawa that fills prescriptions for all patients, whether or not they are community clinic patients. 

It offers walk-in clinic on Saturdays, which Davis said in an earlier interview is losing money. But it is the only medical facility in town that’s open on Saturdays, she said, which is something commissioners have to weigh when thinking about balancing expenses and services.  

Mattawa Community Medical Clinic offers primary care, lab services, some imaging services onsite, dental and behavioral health, according to the clinic website. The clinic also offers health education information and onsite assistance for people trying to figure out health insurance options.  

In an earlier interview, Davis estimated about 60 to 70% of the clinic’s patients who have health insurance depend on Medicare or Medicaid.  

“There’s only so much you can bill for services,” Davis said.