Chelan, Washington launches public healthcare kiosk

Chelan, Washington now has a kiosk that dispenses potentially life-saving overdose-reversal medication Narcan, according to a Lake Chelan Mirror report.

The kiosk is located outside the Lake Chelan Health Clinic and also offers two types of COVID tests. There are additional plans to add items such as emergency blankets, condoms, feminine hygiene products, electrolyte drink mixes, yeast infection treatments, flu tests and more to the kiosk.

«It's an additional low-barrier safety net,» Ray Eickmeyer, director of Lake Chelan Health EMS, told the news outlet.

«I think what it does is it helps people engage in their health, or they would just go without, right, and so having stuff available for people to use to help them is, I think, the right thing to do. And it doesn't hurt, and it may help somebody. That's what we're here to do is help people, right?»

Eickmeyer also expressed hope that, by offering Narcan, the kiosk will be a first step in helping people with addiction access additional resources. «There's two reasons [for the Narcan],» he told the news outlet. «One we want, we don't want people to die from overdoses, right? Number two, it gives us an ability to gain trust and give an access point.»

Source: Kiosk Marketplace