Community Health Improvement

SWACH’s Community Health Improvement team works to improve access to quality health care—both mental and physical—across Southwest Washington.

We focus on building strong rural health networks and supporting local organizations so they can better serve their communities. Our goal is to make health care more fair and accessible for everyone.

Collaboration

Community Health Improvement partners with community and health-based organizations to maximize collective resources.

Scenic view of a river with mountains and a partly cloudy sky, with a text overlay that reads 'Improving equitable access to healthcare across Southwest Washington.'

Our Values

Coordination

CHI convenes partners on key initiatives and programs to enable them to work together effectively.

Leverage community strengths

CHI identifies and leverages community strengths to meet community and organizational needs.

Our Work

Southwest Washington Accountable Community of Health’s (SWACH) newest department expands our reach on important topics like rural health networks, opioid use disorder and substance use disorder (OUD/SUD), and Community Assistance Referral and Education Services (CARES).

CHI is committed to addressing opioid use disorder and substance use disorder (OUD/SUD) across Southwest Washington. Program efforts to meet the needs of our region include:
CHI aims to support and sustain a robust rural health network, specifically in Klickitat and Skamania counties. Highlights of this work include:
- Development of a community asset map
- Rural health network support
- Workforce development framework
CHI also strives to improve access to behavioral health and the integration between physical and behavioral health across Southwest Washington. Elements of this work include:
- Clark County CARES Collaborative is a partnership between Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue, Camas-Washougal Fire Department, and Clark County Fire District 3 to reduce emergency services and acute care utilization for community members of Clark County.
  - Community members are identified for the program by EMS providers, HealthConnect Hub, and other healthcare providers. Community Assistance Referral and Education Services (CARES) utilizes paramedics, social workers, fall specialists and nurses as a multidisciplinary team. The CARES program offers resource navigation, medication reconciliation, fall risk and home safety assessment, chronic disease education/management, medical documentation education, and community member accountability.
- Klickitat Community Link Project (K-LINK) is a collaboration of community partners serving western Klickitat and eastern Skamania counties to improve the health of individuals and the community as a whole.
Fill out this form to request OD Education & Response training from CHI.
CHI offers offer free overdose education and response training for community-based organizations (CBOs) most likely to witness an overdose where they work OR distribute Naloxone to people who use drugs/people most likely to experience an overdose. Our approach to overdose education is the "Train the Trainer" model, which teaches people to train others within their organization and their community.
Provide Feedback for Priorities
Klickitat OAC Meeting - June 11
OAC Charter
CHI has developed a Community Asset Map. You can contribute to the map by clicking here. The information you share is anonymous and is used to further the development of our interactive map of assets across Klickitat and Skamania counties.