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Local partners author report on health equity across Portland Metro Region. The Healthy Columbia Willamette Collaborative (HCWC) and Comagine Health announce the findings of a 2016-2019 community health needs assessment (CHNA). The Collaborative's CHNA seeks to highlight the community's health needs across the quad-county region, including Clark County, Washington, and Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties of Oregon.
The CHNA aims to reflect the lived experiences of our communities by evaluating data and elevating community voices. The report provides a road map for future collaborations and health improvement projects. It will also inform the individual Community Health Improvement Plans (CHIPs) of partner organizations. HCWC is dedicated to advancing health equity by identifying health assets and challenges facing communities. The collaborative's approach provides a lens into the health and well-being of local communities.
Input from this cycle included 18 community-based organizations that hosted community members for listening sessions across the quad-county region to ensure diverse voices were heard. HCWC also conducted town hall meetings in each county. Specific drivers of the core issues identified in the report that negatively influence health in our communities (behavioral health, chronic conditions, etc.) are discrimination, racism and trauma. Factors include challenging social factors such as access to health care, transportation and resources (need and scarcity), community representation, culturally responsive care, and isolation.
Previous needs assessment cycles highlighted the impact of the opioid crisis and led to a statewide focus and work to reduce opioid-related harms. Housing concerns were also addressed through the Housing is Health initiative with Central City Concern. The Housing is Health Initiative started as a result of the previous CHNA, which addressed social determinants affecting the overall health of the community.
HCWC members include Adventist Health; Clackamas County Health, Housing & Human Services; Clark County, Washington Public Health; Health Share of Oregon; Kaiser Permanente; Multnomah County Health Department; Legacy Health; Oregon Health & Science University; PeaceHealth; Providence Health & Services; Tuality Healthcare; and Washington County Public Health.
The 2016–2019 report can be located at: https://comagine.org/program/hcwc/2019-community-health-needs-assessment-report.
About the Healthy Columbia Willamette Collaborative
The Healthy Columbia Willamette Collaborative includes 15 hospitals, four health departments and one coordinated care organization in the Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties of Oregon and in Clark County, Washington. This unique public-private partnership serves as a platform for collaboration around health needs assessments and allows a more comprehensive view of community needs to inform priorities for improvement plans for HCWC partners who sit at many tables together.
Comagine Health, formerly Qualis Health and HealthInsight, works collaboratively with patients, providers, payers and other stakeholders to reimagine, redesign and implement sustainable improvements in the health care system. As a trusted, neutral party, we work in our communities to address key, complex health and health care delivery problems. In all our engagements and initiatives, we draw upon our expertise in quality improvement, care management, health information technology, analytics and research. We invite our partners and communities to work with us to improve health and redesign the health care delivery system. For more information, please visit comagine.org.