Funding recognizes recent significant accomplishments and supports opportunities for even greater improvements.

Hood River, September 29, 2016 — In spite of the increasingly stringent standards set forth in the health care industry, One Community Health (OCH) recently learned it’s being recognized for its ongoing commitment to excellence, thanks to a sizeable award from Health and Human Services (HHS). In late summer, HHS announced plans to award a collective $100 million to 1,034 health centers throughout all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and seven U.S. territories.

One Community Health is honored to receive $88,245 to expand current quality improvement systems and infrastructure as well as to build upon primary care service delivery in the communities it serves. The award reflects its success and achievements for five categories of measure in 2015, according to Jennifer Woods, OCH’s Quality Improvement Director.

“This award is exciting as it will allow One Community Health to further enhance our Patient Centered Primary Care Home (PCPCH) model of care through greater patient engagement,” Woods says. “This sort of recognition isn’t easy to come by as the standards and measures are rigorous, and the award demonstrates we’ve met a number of our objectives. It is through the hard work and dedication of our staff that we were able to make these changes for improvement. And, of course, it is always nice to be recognized for these successes.”

In total, 30 health centers throughout Oregon will receive $2,486,930—all of which will go toward the same goal of improving the quality of federally qualified health centers.

“Specifically, One Community Health plans to use its share of the award to more fully comprehend patient needs and engage with patients to set and succeed in their health goals,” Woods says. “Understanding our patients’ needs is the best foundation for any improvement process.”

One Community Health received the award in early September. At this point, OCH is moving forward, rolling out the initial phase of the award implementation.

Click here to learn more about the HHS award and its recipients.

About One Community Health
One Community Health (OCH) is a nonprofit, federally qualified health center with locations in The Dalles and Hood River, Ore. Formerly known as La Clínica del Cariño Family Health Care Center, Inc., it was founded in 1986 and, today, has evolved into an official Patient-Centered Primary Care Home. Today, OCH provides services to over 10,000 patients. In addition, OCH excels in providing proactive educational programs and support that sustain its integrated approach to health and wellbeing. Dedicated to advancing health and social justice for all its community members, OCH serves patients from the Mid-Columbia River Gorge Region: Wasco, Hood River, Klickitat and Skamania Counties.

*This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).