A Lifeline Returns: Tillamook Kidney Center Opens

After more than a year of hardship and uncertainty, hope has returned to Tillamook County. The Tillamook Kidney Center has officially reopened, bringing lifesaving dialysis care back to patients who had been left with no nearby option. For more than a year, those in need of treatment made exhausting three-hour long round trips over the Coast Range — just to survive. Today, they breathe easier, knowing dialysis care is once again available close to home. 

The journey to reopening the center was not easy. Though the clinic’s walls never moved, the path was filled with frustrating state-level delays. But the people of Tillamook refused to give up. Together, Adventist Health Tillamook, Dialysis Clinic, Inc. (DCI), and countless advocates kept pushing. “There were days I thought we’d never get here,” shared the husband of one patient living with end-stage kidney disease. “But now… it feels like our town matters again.” 

Dialysis isn’t occasional — it’s a three-times-a-week commitment that reshapes lives. One local man recalled rising at 4:30 a.m. to make the long journey to Hillsboro. “Some days I’d come home so tired I couldn’t even eat,” he said. His daughter had to reduce her work hours to drive him, leading to both emotional and financial strain. These quiet sacrifices (carrying the weight of travel distance and worry for a loved one) happened in dozens of homes, across our community. 

John and Jessica Smith* came heartbreakingly close to selling their home to move closer to care. “John was just too sick to keep making the drive,” Jessica recalled. But when they heard the center was reopening, they took their house off the market and planted a garden instead. “It feels like we got our lives back,” she smiled. “We can grow old here now, in the place we love.” 

The center opening isn’t just the return of a clinic — it’s the return of dignity, comfort, and connection. In the past, the clinic was able to meet the needs of its patients by being open only three days a week. Currently, the demand for dialysis has increased. Now, the need for care is so great the clinic is open six days a week. And while the machines hum quietly in the background, they also tell a story of a town that never gave up on its people. 

To keep this lifeline strong, we once again ask for the community’s support. As a nonprofit, the Tillamook Kidney Center relies on your generosity. 

Support the Kidney Center with a donation today!

Every gift  — no matter the size — helps us care for those who need it most. Thank you for standing with us. May God bless you as we serve together.