When she returned to Humboldt, she stopped by Waterfront to drop off a resume, “totally unprepared for an interview” and was surprised to be whisked into McManus’ office for a long conversation about the innovative medical model detox and recovery program McManus and Dr. Ruby Bayan were pioneering on the North Coast. Waterfront had only been open for a year but there was a need for someone when Dr. Bayan was out. They stayed in touch. and as soon as funding was available, McManus reached out.

Coghill is a Family Practice Nurse Practitioner but a lot of people who come to WRS require more than a diagnose and prescribe type of care. They require further evaluation. She notes that it’s difficult to get a primary care physician in Humboldt so she tries to develop a primary care plan for whatever their problem is. “Some have been self-medicating for years.”

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be doing addiction medicine. My program was a family practice program. That’s what my certification is in but I guess what I do here is family practice in a way. A lot of Waterfront clients haven’t seen a doctor in many years so it’s usually more than a routine examination. Nothing in NP school could have prepared me for this population.”

“Jackie Coghill’s contributions to Waterfront Recovery cannot be overstated. Her medical expertise and understanding of where substance use disorder intersects with a patients physical and mental health care needs is incredibly unique and rare, Executive Director Jeremy Campbell says of Coghill. “She has an innate ability to work with the people entering treatment at Waterfront who often feel vulnerable and anxious as they navigate the initial stages of recovery. Jackie has been a major part in actualizing the initial vision co-founders John McManus and Dr. Bayan had for Waterfront Recovery Services and the hope is that she will continue long into the future.”
 
When asked about the unique challenges of working with this population, Coghill says, “I have personal experience with close family members struggling with the disease of addiction and alcoholism so I’m quite familiar with the impact on the family and the ripple effects.” She had never imagined coming in that these experiences would inform her work. She’s required to see clients within 24 hours of admittance and notes that communication must be on their terms in order to build a rapport and establish trust. “It’s important to Understand the impacts and that this is a family problem. Communication with the patient/addict must be on their terms so the quicker you can understand that and let that be OK, the better treatment you can give them,” she says.

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“When my son was in addiction, and I was coming to work here, I had a really good friend that would say maybe you can’t help your son but you can help somebody else’s son.” There are a lot of people at WRS who are close in age to her son   “and every single one of them, I remind myself that this is someone’s son that I’m helping. I love that.” (Her son has his life back on track.)