A mobile medical unit is bringing substance-use treatment directly to some of Portland's unhoused residents as a way to eliminate barriers to care in a city struggling with an addiction and overdose epidemic — and it has expansion in its sights.

Why it matters: Transportation is among the biggest obstacles for those with opioid use disorder to receive life-saving drugs and remain in treatment, several studies suggest.

• New Season's clinic on wheels provides medication-assisted treatment, telemedicine and counseling on site at several Portland-area shelters.

What they're saying: "There's nothing like that here in Portland," Kaesha Green, the health and wellness director for Urban Alchemy, the operator of several of the city's Safe Rest Villages, told Axios.

• After sleeping on the street for so long, some residents don't like to leave their tiny homes and can often miss appointments or once-daily doses, Green added. The mobile clinic fixes that.
• "They literally just have to wake up and go to the van and get their dose, and it helps them with their sobriety."

Context: Oregon has a shortage of treatment options available to those facing substance use disorder, and patients have reported difficulty in obtaining addiction medication from pharmacies in the state.

Between the lines: New Season, which runs treatment centers nationwide, launched its sole mobile unit, an extension of its Portland Treatment Center, back in September.

• The goal was "to reach those in the community that have a bit more difficulty in connecting directly to a clinic because of travel concerns," regional director Amanda Shepard told Axios.

How it works: Anyone, not just shelter residents, can access treatment via the mobile clinic.

• On-board clinicians conduct individual and group therapy, provide pharmaceutical services, offer consultations for other medical concerns and help patients without insurance find coverage.
• It currently makes daily, 90-minute stops at Victory Outreach Church in Hazelwood and Portland's largest outdoor homeless shelter, Clinton Triangle.
• Both Urban Alchemy and New Season are in talks to expand the mobile unit's services to the Reedway Safe Rest Village in Lents.

What's next

The NCAA tournament, college basketball's biggest stage, gets underway today, and three teams from Oregon are looking to fight their way to a championship.

Zoom in: The men's and women's teams from the University of Oregon are both in the mix, as is the women's team from Oregon State.

• The 10th-seeded Oregon women's team will face off against seventh-seeded Vanderbilt on Friday in Durham, North Carolina. Tipoff is at 2:30pm on ESPNews.
• The Oregon men's team picked up the five seed and will take on 12th-seeded Liberty University on Friday in Seattle. The game tips at 7:10pm on TruTV.
• On Saturday, Oregon State's 14th-seeded women's team will be hoping for an upset against the third seed, North Carolina. Tipoff will be at 1:30pm on ESPNU.

State of play: The rest of the tournament starts today for the men and tomorrow for the women.

• The play-in: The eight lowest-seeded teams will play each other for the right to get into the full tournament. The men play today and tomorrow, while the women play tomorrow and Thursday.
• The men's tournament kicks off in earnest tomorrow with live coverage of all 16 games on TBS, CBS, TNT and TruTV. All games can be streamed on NCAA March Madness Live and some on Paramount+ and Max. View tip times here.
• The first full slate for the women will be on Friday, with coverage on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ABC. All games can be streamed on NCAA March Madness Live. View tip times here.

View the full men's and women's schedules.

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💰 Portland city leaders will hold a series of listening sessions to incorporate public input on what to cut — and what to save — as they work to tackle a looming budget gap of more than $90 million.

• The first one is tonight at 6 pm. (OPB)

🏞️ Mill Ends Park, long known as the world's smallest park, has been dethroned by a micro-park in Japan that measures just 372 square inches. (KGW)

🚘 Oregon and nine other states hit a collective goal they set back in 2013: Registering 3.3 million new electric vehicles in the last 12 years. (Oregon Capital Chronicle)

🚶 A car-free pedestrian plaza is coming to one of the busiest parts of SE Hawthorne near the Baghdad Theater this summer with picnic tables, public art and solar-powered phone chargers. (Willamette Week)

Javelina, the much-celebrated Indigenous pop-up, recently announced it found a permanent location on NE 42nd Avenue at the former Yonder space to serve its fry bread tacos, Hopi corn tamales and tribal-caught salmon.

The latest: Chef and owner Alexa Numkena-Anderson told Axios that the new spot will allow them to serve more people and host fellow Indigenous chefs this summer for a series of collabs.

• The restaurant also just launched its tasting menu concept, Inɨ́sha, and it has been sold out since.

We wanted to know: If Numkena-Anderson had one last meal, what would it be?

🍹 Beverage: To start things off, she'd order a Ramos gin fizz from Palomar, a tropical-inspired cocktail blended with heavy cream, orange flower water and lime juice.

🍞 Appetizer: The brioche bread from Jory at Newberg's Allison Inn.

🥩 Entree: At Thai-style restaurant Phuket Cafe, she'd get the rib-eye steakhouse dinner. "Any set they put up is great," she said.

🍰 Dessert: Nothing better than a slice to finish things off — and for Numkena-Anderson, the burnt Basque cheesecake from Street Disco takes the cake.

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