Innovation Reports
The Association's innovation reports aim to support community health centers (CHCs) in leading innovation by identifying successful promising practices and sharing them with the statewide network. Does your CHC have a promising practice to share? Let us know!
Community Health Center of Snohomish County: Partnering to Address the Hygiene Workforce Shortage
By reaching out to their local hygiene schools they realized they had a common challenge. The schools had a high student demand for slots, but the cost of expanding their dental lab and purchasing new equipment was cost prohibitive. At CHC, they had a brand-new clinic ready to open but needed hygienists to treat patients.
Unity Care NW: Using Partnerships to Meet Needs of Unhoused Community
Members
In November 2024, Unity Care NW (UCNW) opened the doors to the Health & Hygiene section of The Way Station which offers crucial services at no cost to people experiencing homelessness. To make this possible, UCNW approached organizations who were like-minded about community needs and who could support by providing medical respite, housing services, and
additional support services.
HealthPoint: Integrating Care to Improve Outcomes
When HealthPoint began their electronic health record migration from NexGen to Epic they saw an opportunity to build in a new blood pressure screening tool that would enable the timely sharing of medical information, improved communication between the dental and medical teams and improved health outcomes for patients.
Community Health Care: Puyallup Health Center Designed for Patient Experience
CHC opened its newest location in Puyallup in response to the growing need for accessible and comprehensive healthcare in East Pierce County. Community members in the smaller towns and unincorporated areas have struggled to find care that is affordable, coordinated, and nearby.
Neighborcare Health: Building a Strong Foundation
For community health centers (CHCs) considering standing up a foundation, the Neighborcare Health Foundation offers an inspiring and practical roadmap. With its roots in community advocacy and a successful relationship-driven fundraising model, Neighborcare demonstrates how CHCs can develop sustainable support for essential services.
Unity Care NW & InReach: Dental Assitant Training Programs and Their Roles in Community Health Centers
As the dental workforce shortage persisted, the InReach program created a stronger, more robust stand-alone DA Training Program. The revised curriculum was launched in 2022 to address the increasing shortage and help community health centers grow their own workforce by having students work through the course while being employed.
Community Health Center of Snohomish County: Ensuring Vaccine Access at School-Based Health Centers
Right from the start, Community Health Center of Snohomish County’s (CHC) school-based health centers were rooted in a strong partnership with the Edmonds School District. The school district understood that bringing vaccine and health services to their students is efficient and effective.
North Olympic Healthcare Network: Improving Blood Pressure with Team Based Care
In 2023, North Olympic Healthcare Network (NOHN) initially launched a Self-Measured Blood Pressure program in July of 2023, aiming to improve control rates by leveraging community health workers (CHWs). The American Heart Association trained NOHN CHWs on hypertension and the SMBP model.
Community Health of Central Washington: Primary Care Behavioral Health Model in Practice
While the model itself is not unique to Community Health of Central Washington, the success of its application offers useful insights for health centers seeking to deepen integration and improve care delivery with benefits across clinical, financial, and workforce development domains.
2023-2024 Reports
CHAS Health: Using PRAPARE Community Health Worker (CHW)Team to Address Patients Social Needs
Understanding the social needs of patients has always been embedded into their mission. They understood that to successfully launch an SDOH screener they needed cross-department collaboration. This workgroup identified members, developed objectives with trackable goals and timelines, and executed a rollout plan.
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Family Health Centers: Leveraging Team Based Care to Improve Population Health
FHC has implemented a new model of care, prioritizing the integration of population-specific services through team-based care quality improvement efforts. Their work’s goal is the long-term sustainability of important services in their community, and seamless patient access to comprehensive care.
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Community Health Center of Snohomish County: Behavioral Health Triage Clinician
An influx of behavioral health cases made it incredibly challenging for the Behavioral Health Provider to maintain a full schedule of providing care while simultaneously remaining available for crisis calls/situations. After analyzing the situation, CHC created a new position, Behavioral Health Triage Clinician, to lessen the load of their BH provider.