By OPCA Communications The Oregon Primary Care Association (OPCA) was founded in 1984 by a group of five or six Oregon safety net clinics and the Oregon Office of Health Policy. Many of the founding clinics had been established during the War on Poverty, some as volunteer-run clinics, others as...
By Jennifer Moffatt, Senior Director of Communications, and Nicole Rideout, Communications Specialist, Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare Cascadia was formed when Multnomah County’s quadrant of mental health service providers merged over time. The four quadrants, the North-Northeast Community Health Center, Mental Health Services West, Mt. Hood Community Mental Health...
By Susan Trachsel, Executive Assistant & Public Information Officer, Lincoln County Health & Human Services The Lincoln Community Health Center officially launched in 2006 to provide care to children and adults in the areas of primary care, reproductive health, behavioral health, maternal child health, and (in...
By Ashley Kaplan, Communications Specialist, Siskiyou Community Health Center In 1973, Siskiyou Community Health Center began as the Takilma Peoples Clinic located in the Illinois Valley. A major health crisis resulted in volunteers from surrounding areas stepping in and helping. One volunteer, Dr. Jim Shames, came...
By Mark Tsuchiya, Marketing and Development Director, Aviva Health In 1992, Aviva Health—then known as the Open Door Clinic—first began providing free basic health services to underserved children and adults living in Douglas County in a small storefront located in downtown Roseburg. In those early years,...
By Francisco Garcia, Management Analyst - Community Engagement Strategist, Integrated Clinical Services, Multnomah County Health Department As the home to Portland, Oregon’s largest city, Multnomah County has a long, albeit imperfect history of prioritizing public health, dating back even before the founding of Oregon in 1859. Historically, Multnomah...
By Adrienne Schutte, Communications Specialist, Northwest Human Services “Rumors, crisis information, or just plain rapping” the poster touting the Switchboard for Help’s services is hand drawn—faded blue on a white background, yellowed with age. It is complete with a peace sign and art nouveau inspired illustrations—signs...
By Steve Manela, Lane County Human Services Division Manager, and Jeanne Campos, Community Health Centers of Lane County Outreach Coordinator In 2002, in collaboration with the Latino Medical Access Coalition, the Lane County Human Services Commission wrote and received a grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust to...
Provided by Laura J. Recko, Associate Director of Communications & Donor Relations, Central City Concern Central City Concern’s roots trace back to 1979, when Portland was seeking solutions to help people on the street who were incapacitated by alcohol use disorder. The agency (originally called Burnside...
By Nicole Rideout, Communications Specialist, Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare For more than 40 years, Cascadia has been the community health and housing safety net provider for Oregonians of all ages experiencing mental health and addiction challenges, trauma, poverty, and homelessness. Through the delivery of whole health care—integrated...
BY KATRINA RATZLAFF, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, WALLACE For the past decade, Wallace’s mobile medical clinic has been a popular community ambassador. The big rig with two fully-equipped exam rooms (and even a small lab) has crisscrossed the streets of the Portland metro area thousands of times...
By Taylor Thompson, KHP Data Analyst COVID has made 2020 a truly unprecedented year. But, that hasn't stopped Klamath Health Partnership (KHP) from taking care of our community. In fact, in a time where healthcare is perhaps more important than ever, KHP has had to adapt...
By Julie Wurth, Communications Officer, La Clinica We like to say that a big part of our role at La Clinica is to meet the community’s need. Never have we had a greater opportunity to do that than in this unusual year—first as we adjusted for...
By Laura J. Recko, Associate Director of Communications & Donor Relations, Central City Concern How Central City Concern locations, staff, and operations have been impacted by wildfires: Similar to our COVID response, Central City Concern stood up an Incident Command Team which met daily to address...
By Erin Zelinka, Communications Manager, Rogue Community Health Rogue Community Health (RCH) began in 1972 as the Ashland Women’s Health Center, an all-volunteer organization focused on self-care exams, pregnancy and communicable disease testing. By 1977, the community requested services for a broader population, and the Ashland...
By Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center In 1975, beautiful six-year-old Virginia Garcia and her farmworker parents traveled from their home in Mission, Texas, to California and Oregon to work in the fields. Along the way Virginia cut her foot, and by the time they reached Oregon,...
By Chris Altavilla and Dustin Vance, Prism Health Prism Health was just an idea in 2015 when its parent organization, CAP, recognized an unfulfilled need in the local LGBTQ+ community for culturally affirming primary care. CAP spent two years, researching, planning, and raising funds for the...
By Penny Moore, Director of Development and Communications, Neighborhood Health Center How and when did your CHC open? Neighborhood Health Center (NHC) opened in 2010 out of a need to provide a medical home for 1,200 high-risk patients. CareOregon originally started NHC because they had 1,200...
By Bridget McGinn, Communications Manager, Mosaic Medical Quality Care For All: The Mosaic Medical Origin Story Founded under President Johnson during the War on Poverty initiative in the 1960s, Community Health Centers provide citizens across the nation with access to crucial primary care. By reducing patient barriers...
By Benjamin Brubaker, Co-Clinic Coordinator & Dee Hall, Retired Grant Writer, White Bird Clinic White Bird Clinic is a collective environment organized to enable people to gain control of their social, emotional, and physical well-being through direct service, education, and community ORIGIN: The White Bird organization and its...