An addiction treatment clinic that first launched in Kennewick more than a decade ago has grown to 80 locations across nine states, and in 2025, treated more than 7,000 patients in Washington. 

The outpatient clinics’ medication-assisted treatment is effective: 96% of patients in long-term recovery showed sustained abstinence from opioids in 2025, according to its recently released annual report.

Ideal Option’s Kennewick clinic serves about 807 patients and is supported by 82 staff members, including nine on-site staff and two remote staff working directly out of the local clinic. It was first founded in 2012 by Drs. Jeff Allgaier and Ken Egli.

As individuals continue to deal with addictive substances, Ideal Option’s Kennewick clinic is primed to help those seeking treatment for substance use disorder of substances from alcohol and opioids to stimulants and more.  

Medication-assisted treatment

Ideal Option’s specialty is in medication-assisted treatment which helps patients wean off drugs via U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved medication. 

When someone quits a drug, there’s a physiological response to the withdrawal, said Tyler Vermillion, senior community outreach manager with Ideal Option. “Your body at this point is dependent on these substances. … And our body tells us, ‘Do whatever you need to do to fix this,’” he said. 

That phase of withdrawal is the biggest challenge of substance use disorder, but medication-assisted treatment helps stabilize people in withdrawal by minimizing cravings and controlling symptoms without producing the same high. 

Once someone has gotten through the withdrawal phase, “that’s when their cognitive abilities start to return, their brain function returns to normal,” Vermillion said. “We’re able to start thinking and making choices that are not solely being driven by our body’s physiological need of the substances.”

The data shows that the medication-assisted treatment works. 

For Washington patients progressing from treatment initiation to a maintenance level in 2025, Ideal Option reported a 98% reduction in fentanyl use and an 85% reduction in methamphetamine use. 

Ideal Option works with a variety of different substances, and there are different tools for each. Some patients may be able to taper off their medication, while others might need to stay on the medication indefinitely. 

Recovery center

The Tri-Cities recently welcomed a new resource for those struggling with mental health and substance use disorder when the Columbia Valley Center for Recovery opened its doors in Kennewick in June. 

Vermillion said it’s a “really exciting time for the community of Tri-Cities especially.” With a “no wrong door” approach, the center can accept people at any stage of need. 

While there’s always some overlap in organizations working in substance use disorder treatment, Vermillion said, the organizations’ different specialties make them complementary. 

The recovery center is an inpatient operation, meaning that patients can stay overnight or even longer, and it offers 24/7 crisis response. 

Ideal Option, on the other hand, provides outpatient services only. That means that the clinics function like a typical doctor’s office, and patients will never stay the night. 

Ideal Option’s clinics shine in terms of their long-term care. Many patients may start medication-assisted treatment at a detox facility, a residential treatment program or at an outpatient treatment program, Vermillion said – typically short term. Those same patients will need continued care, and Ideal Option helps meet that need. 

As people leave residential treatment programs, Ideal Option can provide ongoing care in patients’ local communities, with 24 Washington clinics, plus clinics in Oregon, Idaho and Montana. 

Vermillion said that the Columbia Valley Center for Recovery is likely to be a regional asset, not just a local one, drawing people from the surrounding areas. 

“With the addition of the new Center for Recovery, I only anticipate the need growing in that community as we see more folks actually looking to Tri-Cities for treatment instead of historically having to look elsewhere,” he said. 

Ideal Option’s Tri-Cities clinic is at 8508 W. Gage Blvd., Suite A101, Kennewick. Ideal Option is an outpatient clinic offering medical assisted treatment to those dealing with addiction to substances from alcohol to opioids and more. 

| Photo by Nathan Finke

Trends

While medication-assisted treatment has remained effective over the years, Ideal Option is seeing an increase in patients and changes in which substances are impacting communities.

Many patients are diagnosed with polysubstance use disorder, where they either knowingly or unknowingly are using multiple substances. According to its annual report, fentanyl has mostly replaced heroin and prescription pain medications, and methamphetamine remains the most widely consumed illicit drug in the U.S. 

Vermillion said that kratom has become more prevalent in the last year, but it’s not a new substance. 

Kratom tree leaves produce both stimulant effects (in low doses) and sedative effects (in high doses), and can lead to psychotic symptoms, and psychological and physiological dependence. The leaves can be dried or powdered and transformed into tablets, capsules or extracts, or ingested as a tea, according to a Drug Enforcement Administration fact sheet.

Researchers at Ideal Option published a study on treating kratom addiction, enabling the organization to be a leader in the field, he said. That treatment is provided across all of Ideal Option’s clinics. 

A relatively newer type of medication available at the clinics has been long-acting injectable medications that only need to be taken once a week rather than once a day. Vermillion said that it’s been popular and successful among patients. 

Open doors

Ideal Option can help meet patients at whatever stage they’re at, both youth and adults. The clinics offer same-day appointments and don’t have wait lists so that they can help patients quickly connect to services, Vermillion said. 

The clinics are also “non-punitive … which means that we never kick folks out of our program for substance use,” he said. Instead, patients move to a different level of care; Ideal Option has five different stages. 

Even if a patient cancels their first appointment 17 times, “we’re still going to reschedule for that 18th time,” Vermillion said. “And we’re going to support them as much as possible, because we never know which time is going to be the life-changing opportunity for them when they do show up.”

Treating patients with respect, kindness and care is at the heart of the clinics’ efforts, he said, “and that’s where we get our success from.”

The clinic accepts Medicaid, Medicare and most commercial insurance.

Go to: idealoption.com/suboxone-clinics/kennewick.