YWCA Women of Achievement awards: MultiCare Behavioral Health’s Samantha Clark ‘has the care that sets her apart from others’

As an undergrad at Western Washington University who figured she’d follow in her father’s footsteps by practicing law, Samantha Clark eventually realized the field wasn’t for her.

But Clark knew people interested her, so she enrolled in an abnormal psychology class.

“I grew up kind of sheltered,” she said. “I wanted to understand people better.”

She recalls learning about various mental diseases and recognizing them in some of her family members.

“I fell in love with it,” she said.

Years later, Clark’s role in opening up a new MultiCare Behavioral Health Clinic in Hillyard and in other community mental health work has been honored with the YWCA Women of Achievement community enhancement award.

The Women of Achievement award winners will be honored during a luncheon set for 11 a.m. March 15 at the Spokane Convention Center. Tickets are $135 and can be purchased online at ywcaspokane.org/2024-woa-honorees.

MultiCare spokesperson Kevin Maloney said he nominated Clark, a native of Maple Valley, Washington, because behavioral health is her passion. She has a fire under her and is determined to make her community a better place, Maloney said.

“She is very involved in this community,” he said. “She not only has the know, she has the care that sets her apart from others.”

Maloney said Clark is adept at seeing a need and fixing it.

“She doesn’t just talk about it,” he said. “She just does it.”

When Clark was born, no one on either side of her family had gone to college. Her father was a high school dropout, but when Clark was very young he went back to school, eventually becoming a lawyer. Clark said she initially thought she might study environmental law.

At one point in college, Clark worked as a case aide with foster care children in behavioral rehabilitation services.

“That was totally earth-shattering, working with a population with real trauma,” she said.

Once she graduated, she worked as a case manager for a for-profit home living assistance agency that covered five counties, then became a social worker so she could assist those who couldn’t afford to pay for needed services.

“I wanted to control as much as I could to help these people,” she said.

Clark went back to school and earned her masters in health care administration from the University of Washington. She was exploring new jobs when a friend suggested she meet with the head of MultiCare’s Behavioral Health Network. She had several job offers in hand and was skeptical, but she agreed to meet with him.

“I knew instantly,” she said. “I said no to all the other offers. I haven’t regretted it.”

Four years ago she came to Spokane, months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, as the executive director of MultiCare Behavioral Health. She was working to integrate behavioral health into existing programs, but when the pandemic started she shifted her focus to virtual behavioral health.

Since the beginning, Clark knew there was a need for a behavioral health clinic in Spokane. She never put that goal aside, even during the pandemic. She soon fixated on the former Hillyard Library building next to the Northeast Community Center on North Cook Street.

“I want to be where the people are,” she said. “So much of that is about increasing access, so much of that is about decreasing stigma. This place was just perfect.”

The site is also directly across the street from Shaw Middle School and close to On Track Academy, the Skills Center and an elementary school. Traffic calming measures were added on Cook Street, including narrowing the road to reduce speed, so that students at the schools across the street can visit counselors at the MultiCare Behavioral Health Clinic during the school day. The students are generally referred by their school counselors, but Clark said the clinic does take walk-ins and makes sure to keep a few time slots open for same-day appointments.

Maloney said the community feedback since the clinic opened last October has been positive.

“The response we’ve heard from people in the Hillyard community is phenomenal,” he said.

He said Clark, now the Assistant Vice President of Strategy and Business Development for the MultiCare Behavioral Health Network, is driven to provide behavioral health services to the community.

“I think her heart is truly boundless,” he said. “She cares so much for others.”

Clark said when she was initially told about the Women of Achievement award, she was confused about whether it had actually been given to her or if she was just nominated. She said she has difficulty seeing herself as someone who has accomplished great things.

“It just goes to show you that the imposter syndrome is real,” she said. “I just felt so honored and humbled.”

Now, however, she has embraced the recognition.

“It feels pretty awesome,” she said. “It’s nice to be able to see yourself through other people’s eyes.”

But Clark has no plans to slow down or stop working for her community. She’s already identified her next project, creating an inpatient behavioral health intake for adults in MultiCare Deaconess Hospital.

“Let’s get on this,” she said.