A QUESTION AT THE HEART OF POHALA
Who Are We? Who Are We Becoming?
Healing can enter our lives through many doorways. Sometimes it begins with a physical concern; at other times through emotional struggle, life circumstances or the feeling that something within us needs greater attention.
Pohala was created as a space where each person can be met where they are, with room to explore health across the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual dimensions of life.
Healing does not follow one path. Our intention is to create space for each person to discover their own.
MORE THAN A NAME
Pohala Means Healing, Relief and Renewal
The Hawaiian word Pohala carries many layers of meaning, each reflecting a different experience of release, restoration and becoming whole again.
For Julie, these meanings came to embody the vision behind the clinic: healing not only as something we receive, but as something we can discover and cultivate within ourselves.
To be healed · To breathe freely after being relieved from pain · To be freed from constraint · To be relieved of worries · To be revived · To unfold like a blossoming flower · A Place of Healing
Pohala represents the possibility of finding greater freedom, resilience and renewal, within ourselves, within our relationships and within the wider world around us.
A Place of Healing. A Place to Breathe. A Place to Unfold.
ROOTED IN PORTLAND. SHAPED BY HAWAII
A Vision That Became Pohala
Pohala was founded in Portland in 2007 by Julie Foster, MSN, FNP, a sixth-generation Oregonian whose Native Hawaiian heritage and decades of experience in nursing and integrative medicine shaped her vision for a more human approach to healthcare. For Julie, caring for others became part of her Kuleana, a sense of purpose and responsibility that guided her exploration of conventional medicine, naturopathy, anthroposophic medicine and Indigenous wisdom.
Through that journey, Julie began reflecting on healing as something deeper than treating a diagnosis, including the idea of finding a Place of Refuge within ourselves. From this perspective emerged Pohala: a place where clinical knowledge, human connection and the spirit of Aloha come together to support the whole person.
POHALA TODAY
The Vision Continues to Unfold
What began as Julie’s calling has grown into a multidisciplinary community of medical, naturopathic and behavioral health professionals united by a shared approach to whole-person care.
The clinic continues to evolve, but the heart of Pohala remains the same: listen deeply, recognize the person beyond the diagnosis and create relationships grounded in trust, respect and genuine human connection.
This is the spirit of Ohana at Pohala a wider sense of family and community in which healing is something we support together.
CONTACT
scheduling@pohalaclinic.com
Phone (appointments):
503-572-4196
Phone (general inquiries):
503-572-4196
7477 SE 52nd Ave
Portland, OR 97206
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