CURRENT PROJECTS
Collective Impact Health Specialist Project /
Collaborative Grantwriting Model
Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital serving the Columbia Gorge region and Providence Seaside Hospital serving the North Coast are utilizing a unique and innovative program that has dramatically changed each communitys’ approach to addressing health across the care continuum. With a focus on social drivers of health, the primary strategy of the Collective Impact Health Specialist (CIHS) model is to create and support multi-sector collaborations between local providers across the issues identified in Community Health Needs Assessments/Community Health Improvement Plans. These collaborations improve access to care, improve health equity, and address root causes of health issues through multi-disciplinary partnerships. As implied in the title, the project also focuses on securing funding to support community-identified solutions that address community-identified needs.
Columbia Gorge, OR
In 2014, Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital launched an effort to increase the capacity of community partners in its service area to plan for, respond to, and apply for more funding opportunities. (www.gorgeimpact.com)
The idea was simple: utilize community benefit dollars for a role to work with community-based organizations, that intentionally crosses sectors, issues, and geographies in order to better position the community to secure more grant funding. Since 2014, this model has resulted in 130+ programs, all collaborative and all designed to address community-identified needs, and it has secured $35.5 million in grant funds (so far) and most importantly it has helped create a culture of collaboration.
North Coast, OR
In 2024, Providence Oregon Region contracted with Hat Creek Consulting to replicate the model in Seaside/North Coast region. The work in Clatsop, Columbia and Tillamook counties has followed the model and is already achieving similar results and impacts in that region. These results include stronger relationships between local organizations, more cross-sector collaborations, and more than $7 million in grants…so far!
The Collective Impact Health Specialist model has received significant recognition over the past several years: the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation specifically highlighted the CIHS role when it awarded the Columbia Gorge its Culture of Health Prize in 2016; the National Academy of Medicine included the Gorge in its Health Equity Planning/Training program, largely because of this model; the Rural Health Information Hub, a resource for rural communities across the country lists this model on its site as an “Innovative Model” The Atlantic published an article highlighting the role, and in November 2024, the Portland Business Journal awarded the program its 2025 Innovative Impact Award.
For more on Collective Impact Health Specialist model, please visit www.gorgeimpact.com
K-LINK Collaborative
Klickitat County, WA
Launched in fall 2019, Klickitat Community-Clinics Links was designed as a cross-sector effort to better identify and address mental/behavioral health needs and solutions in rural Klickitat County, Washington. A true collaborative, rather than an individual agency-driven effort, the K-LINK Collaborative includes Skyline Hospital; One Community Health (fqhc); the Public Health Dept; social services through (Washington Gorge Action Programs, CultureSeed, The Next Door, Inc.; Klickitat Senior Services; Mt Adams Transportation, White Salmon Valley School District; Bingen/WS Police Dept; as well as funding partners, Southwest WA Accountable Communities for Health (SWACH) and Carelon.
K-LINK provides a venue for these local agencies to strengthen relationships, learn about needs, and co-create solutions to meet those needs.
Clatsop Rural Health Coalition
Launched in early 2020 in an effort to better coordinate a 'system-wide' response to Covid, the Rural Health Coalition partners found such value in the group that they decided to re-double their efforts in 2023. Since then the partners have created a strategic plan that prioritizes local needs. The top issue for 2026 is substance use services and the related issues of mental/behavioral health.
The Clatsop Rural Health Coalition includes decision-makers from key local providers including Providence Seaside Hospital, Columbia Memorial Hospital, Clatsop County, Clatsop Public Health Dept, Columbia Pacific CCO, Clatsop Community Action Council, Yakima Valley Farmworkers Clinic (fqhc), among others. The Coalition strives to equitably address health needs through shared goals and projects.