2025-29 Regional Health Improvement Plan 

We’re proud to share our Regional Health Improvement Plan for the 2025-29 period. The plan is the result of a two-year, community-led Regional Health Assessment, one of the most important ways we listen to the communities we serve to understand their health-related needs.

From planning to prioritizing health-related needs, our Community Advisory Councils and the wider communities we serve were deeply engaged in creating and adopting this plan.

Together, we learned from our partners' community health needs assessments, gathered health-related stories from more than 1,300 community members and made sense of what we learned to develop priority areas.

Below, you’ll find a summary of our Regional Health Improvement Plan, starting with the community-identified priorities that will guide our work, investment decisions and partnership efforts over the next five years. Download the full report for an in-depth look at our region, strategies for advancing priority areas and more.

The mandate from our communities is clear: To create a healthier Northwest Oregon, we must invest in more-equitable food systems, focus deeply on the needs of children and youth, and increase housing stability for all and services for our houseless community members.

Equitable food systems

• Why it matters: Food is a basic need that directly impacts our health. Access to nutritious, culturally relevant food helps people stay healthy and manage conditions like obesity and diabetes. 
• How we measure it: We look at food insecurity as well as the prevalence of health conditions in which food may play a part in treatment and/or management, among other data. 
• Worth noting: The rate of food insecurity in Columbia, Clatsop and Tillamook counties is higher than the statewide average (based on data through 2022). Inflation and the lapsing of pandemic-era, hunger-relief programs have contributed to rising levels of food insecurity. 

I went to the food bank to get some food boxes and was asked for ID and proof of residency. When I provided my tribal ID, I was told that was not a real ID and that I needed to bring a driver's license or federal ID. I was denied food for me and three others.

- Columbia County resident

Healthy children and youth

• Why it matters: The health and success of our children and teens are essential to a healthy region.
• How we measure it: We look at leading causes of death among young people and data on mental health, substance use, juvenile-arrest rates and more.
• Worth noting: On some measures, like high-school graduation rates, the kids in our region are doing relatively well. On other measures, like mental health and substance use, our kids are faring worse than their peers across the state.

Single mom with four kids who have disabilities. I am so thankful for OHP [Oregon Health Plan] and my providers. They are very helpful. My son goes to therapy three times a week and they pay for transportation. He looks forward to his sessions. He gets a little upset when he doesn't get to see his favorite driver.

- Columbia County resident

Housing and houselessness

• Why it matters: There is a strong connection between access to safe, affordable housing and health outcomes. People who are unhoused are at greater risk of complications from chronic illness, substance use disorder and other poor health outcomes. Lack of affordable housing can also force people to choose between paying rent, buying food and meeting other basic needs.
• How we measure it: We look at a number of metrics, including houselessness and hunger/food insecurity for renters versus homeowners.
• Worth noting: Our region’s geography, economic profile and other unique factors have led to a long-term housing crisis. Compared to the state, the rate of houselessness is relatively high, and the problem is especially acute in Clatsop County, which has the state’s highest per-capita rate of houselessness.

I have been almost homeless twice due to lack of housing in the area as a mentally disabled and still working person. It is very hard to think about the future when you don't have a home.

- Tillamook County resident

The plan serves all residents of our three-county region, whether Columbia Pacific health plan members or not.

That said, we believe that when we focus our investments on the needs, barriers and empowerment of people who may otherwise “fall through the cracks” of our systems, we help everyone have more opportunity to be healthy.

We use a unique method, called story collection and sensemaking, to gather and analyze primary data for each of our Regional Health Assessments. We believe this approach grounds our decision-making in community wisdom and insight. 

Here’s how it works:

We work with community members to design a survey that asks residents to share stories (anonymously) about experiences that impacted their health and well-being.

Using this survey, we collect stories in all three counties we serve, making a special effort to visit food pantries and other social safety net organizations and Pride events.  

Together with community members, we analyze the feedback to look for patterns and themes, resulting in a list of potential priority areas for our Regional Health Improvement Plan.

We host community-input sessions (including youth-focused sessions) to share our findings and ask residents to weigh in on potential priority areas through ranked-choice voting. 

Our Regional Community Advisory Council votes to adopt our proposed Regional Health Improvement Plan.

During a three-month period in 2023, our staff and trusted partners fanned out across our region to collect health-related stories. The stories they collected give us a better understanding of what’s important to people in our communities, particularly those who have historically faced the biggest barriers to care and opportunity.  

We are fortunate to have a region full of community-minded partners. The organizations highlighted below not only endorsed this plan, but participated in our process in meaningful ways, including agreeing to partner with us on the plan’s priority areas. 

As we complete the work of this plan, we will provide our Community Advisory Councils and other governing bodies with yearly progress updates. We’ll also celebrate victories and share them with our communities through external communications.

Please know that the stories our communities shared with us will not sit on a shelf collecting dust. We will return to them for direction and inspiration as we work to advance this plan’s priority areas. We’ll also provide regular public updates to this plan through our website and the Oregon Health Authority website.

We respect and honor the diverse points of view shared with us as we gathered community feedback for this plan and, as always, will work hard to ensure your input results in real impact.