Bridges to Health (formerly Community Health Teams- Columbia Gorge)

The project goal was to create a structure to connect and coordinate existing community health workers with each other, primary care providers, social service and other resources in the Hood River and Wasco County area. This collaborative structure helped to also prioritize connection and alignment with establishing Early Learning Hubs.

Oregon Solutions assisted the team to leverage and integrate resources, and develop partnerships among private and public sector organizations. The Project Team met monthly and concluded in the Spring of 2014.

Solution

The Oregon Solutions project team agreed to form the Bridges To Health (BTH) community hub in the Columbia Gorge. This structure connects and coordinates existing community health workers (CHW) with each other, primary care providers, social service entities, and other resources in the Hood River and Wasco County area. In addition, there was a connection to, and alignment with, the Four Rivers Early Learning Hub. This structure is focused on improving outcomes and will use the Pathways model as a mechanism to achieve this.

Results

The project team set out to create a Community HUB Model similar to what some other rural communities have successfully implemented. It is called Bridges To Health and not a “HUB”, to distinguish it from the Four Rivers Early Learning HUB. The group selected a “lead agency” of BTH and is now a collaborative team composed of the Columbia Gorge Health Council and PacificSource.

This BTH community hub structure connects and coordinates existing community health workers with each other, primary care providers, social service entities, and other resources in the Hood River and Wasco County area. In addition, there is a connectionto, and alignment with, organizations participating in the Four Rivers Early Learning Hub.

The Project Team was guided by a document created by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality titled, Connecting Those at Risk to Care: A Guide to Building a Community “HUB” To Promote a System of Collaboration, Accountability, and Improved Outcomes. The group also tapped into the practical experience of a rural community HUB in Oregon by working with Lisa Ladendorff, Executive Director of Northeast Oregon 2Network (NEON). Dr. Sarah Redding, creator of the Community HUB model, was also consulted with.

For additional information about the current status of the Bridges to Health project, please contact the Columbia Gorge Health Council.