If you live or work in NW Portland and just got into a car accident, you have more than one option for care — but not all of them are built for auto-injury patients. This page is for the person who’s deciding where to go in the next 72 hours.
I’m Dr. Mike Kam, owner of Crash Care Clinics. Our NW Portland clinic sits right in Slabtown — 407 NW 17th Ave, Suite 5, Portland, OR 97209 (the building is on NW Flanders, between 17th and 18th, with the closest corner at 17th & Flanders) — a few blocks from the Pearl District, walking distance from NW 23rd, and a quick drive from I-405. We’re an independent, clinician-owned practice focused entirely on auto-injury recovery. This page tells you what we do, who we serve, and how the first visit works.
Need to talk to us right now? Call (503) 567-2981. New auto-injury patients are seen same-day or next-day in almost every case.
Where we are — and what’s nearby
Our NW Portland clinic is in the Slabtown neighborhood, on NW Flanders between 17th and 18th (closest corner: NW 17th & Flanders). From the front door:
- 2 blocks to the Portland Streetcar (NS Line — Lovejoy/Northrup couplet)
- 4 blocks west of the Pearl District core (NW 11th–14th, Glisan to Lovejoy)
- 6 blocks east of the NW 23rd shopping and restaurant corridor
- 0.5 mile to the I-405 on/off ramps at NW Everett and NW Glisan
- Near the Conway development, Slabtown New Seasons, and the Wieden+Kennedy building
- Walk-or-streetcar accessible from most of NW Portland and the Pearl District
Parking: we share a private parking lot with Portland Wellness Collective (the wellness practice we’re co-located with) — there are reserved spots for our patients, so you don’t need to circle the block looking for street parking. We don’t validate paid parking elsewhere; if our lot is full, street parking around NW Flanders is generally easy on weekdays after the morning rush.
Hours: Monday-Friday 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM, Saturday 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM, closed Sunday.
Who we treat in NW Portland
Most of our NW patients fall into a few common scenarios:
Pearl District and Slabtown residents — urban-professional commuters and remote workers who got rear-ended on I-405 or hit at one of the busy NW intersections (NW 23rd & Burnside, NW Lovejoy & 14th, the Northrup couplet). Many already have Oregon auto insurance with PIP — they just don’t know they have $15,000 in covered care available to them with no fault required.
NW 23rd shoppers and restaurant-goers hit while parked or walking — pedestrian-vehicle incidents are more common than people realize in this corridor. PIP applies to pedestrians struck by vehicles, too.
US 30 / NW Yeon commuters — the industrial corridor between downtown and NW Industrial sees frequent merging crashes near the Vaughn off-ramp and around the Fremont Bridge approaches.
Forest Park visitors and runners — less common but not zero — usually a parking-area fender-bender at the Lower Macleay or Pittock trailheads, or a crash on NW Thurman or NW Cornell.
Streetcar-adjacent collisions in Slabtown and the Pearl — the streetcar tracks change driver behavior, and the residential side streets crossing the line generate predictable T-bone and side-swipe crashes.
You don’t need to live in NW to be one of our NW patients. We see plenty of people from the Westside who chose this clinic specifically because it’s clinician-owned and not part of a corporate chain.
What to do in the first 72 hours
The full sequence is in our 8 Steps After a Car Accident in Oregon cornerstone, but the short version for NW Portland residents:
- Get checked. ER first if there are red flags (loss of consciousness, severe headache, chest pain, numbness in arms or legs, abdominal pain). Otherwise, get to a chiropractor or urgent care within 72 hours. Soft-tissue inflammation peaks 24-72 hours post-impact, and the documentation gap if you wait longer can hurt your eventual claim.
- File the DMV report. Oregon Form 735-32 is required within 72 hours for any crash with injury or property damage over $2,500. You can file it online with ODOT.
- Open a PIP claim with your auto carrier. This is the fastest way to get medical bills paid. We can help you do this if you haven’t yet — bring your insurance card.
- Document everything. Photos of the cars, the scene, the in-app trip if it was a rideshare, plus a daily symptom log starting now. We give every patient a template.
How Oregon PIP works for NW Portland residents
Oregon law (ORS 742.524) requires every auto policy in the state to include Personal Injury Protection (PIP) — minimum $15,000 per person in medical coverage with a 2-year coverage window, no fault required. That means if you have an Oregon auto policy and you were hurt in any crash — your fault, the other driver’s fault, hit while parked, hit as a pedestrian — your PIP pays for chiropractic, physical therapy, massage when medically necessary, imaging, and more.
We bill PIP directly. You don’t write a check at the front desk. Most of our NW Portland patients pay nothing out of pocket for their care.
If you want to understand your coverage in detail, our Oregon PIP guide is a good starting point. If you don’t have Oregon auto insurance, or your case is more complicated (uninsured driver, hit-and-run, severe injury), call us and we’ll walk you through your options.
What makes us different
A few things to know about how we work that you might not get from a corporate chain or from a clinic that treats auto injuries as a side business:
- Independent and clinician-owned. I’m in the building. I see patients. The clinical decisions get made by clinicians, not by a regional corporate office. That matters when your case is more complicated than a textbook whiplash.
- Auto-injury is what we do. Not just “we accept PIP” — we built the practice around post-MVA care. Our notes are written knowing they’ll be read by an insurance adjuster or an attorney. Our treatment plans match the typical PIP timeline. Our front desk knows how to handle an open claim.
- Same-day or next-day for new patients. The 72-hour window matters and we don’t make people wait two weeks.
- No money out of pocket. PIP billed direct. If your case gets handed to an attorney later, we coordinate with them and send the records they need without you having to play middleman.
- Bilingual staff. Spanish at the front desk and in the treatment room — you can receive care entirely in Spanish if you prefer. Our Spanish-language guide covers what to do after a crash in español.
- Multiple modalities under one roof. Chiropractic adjustment, soft-tissue work, Class IV laser, shockwave therapy, rehabilitative exercise. We match the tool to the phase of healing instead of treating every patient with the same protocol. (More on how we choose between modalities is in our shockwave vs laser guide.)
If you want to understand what walks into our office on day one, our first-visit guide walks through the actual sequence: paperwork, exam, imaging decisions, treatment plan, billing.
How to book a visit
The fastest path is to call us: (503) 567-2981. New auto-injury patients usually get scheduled within 24 hours.
Bring with you:
- Your driver’s license
- Your auto insurance card (and the other driver’s, if you have it)
- The police report number, if you have one
- Any imaging (X-rays, MRI) already done elsewhere
- A list of current medications
- Comfortable clothing for the exam
If you’d rather book online or send a message first, the contact form on our site goes directly to our front desk and is checked throughout the day.
Where exactly is your NW Portland clinic? 407 NW 17th Ave, Suite 5, Portland, OR 97209 — in the Slabtown neighborhood. The building is on NW Flanders between 17th and 18th; the closest corner is NW 17th & Flanders. A few blocks from the Pearl District core and walking distance from NW 23rd.
Where do I park? We share a private parking lot with Portland Wellness Collective with reserved spots for patients. We don’t validate paid parking. Street parking around NW Flanders is also generally available on weekdays.
Do I need a referral to be seen for an auto injury? No. Oregon PIP does not require a referral. You can call us directly and be seen the same day or next day in almost every case.
How much does it cost if I have PIP? For most patients with an Oregon auto policy, nothing out of pocket. We bill PIP directly. PIP minimum coverage is $15,000 per person with a 2-year window from the date of the crash.
What if the crash was my fault? PIP is no-fault — it pays for your medical care regardless of who caused the crash. Fault matters for the eventual liability settlement (pain and suffering, lost wages beyond PIP), but not for getting your medical bills covered up front.
What if the other driver didn’t have insurance? Oregon requires every auto policy to include UM/UIM (Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist) coverage — minimum $25,000 per person. Your PIP covers your medical bills, and UM/UIM can fill the gap if your injuries exceed PIP limits or if there’s a need for pain-and-suffering recovery. We can walk you through how this works at your first visit.
Do you take walk-ins? We take same-day appointments for new auto-injury patients in almost every case. Calling first is faster than walking in — we can prepare your intake paperwork and have it ready when you arrive.
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