A collaborative effort

New primary care clinic slated for east Multnomah County

Multnomah County Health Department is partnering with CareOregon and Lifeworks Northwest to open a new community health clinic in Gresham.

The Rockwood Health Center will be located in a former Adventist Health clinic at 2020 SE 182nd Avenue.

There are a limited number of primary care providers in that area, explains James Schroeder, CareOregon’s director of healthcare systems.

Multnomah County also had identified a need for the whole Rockwood community, according to Susan Kirchoff, Multnomah County’s director for health center operations.

Rockwood has one of the highest concentrations of poverty in the metropolitan area. About 100,000 people live in the area, and roughly 75 percent of the students in the area qualify for free or reduced-price lunches at school, which is one indicator of relative poverty.

When it opens in late August, Rockwood will be Multnomah County's eighth medical clinic. It will also include a dental clinic operated by the county, plus a pharmacy and some social services.

In addition to the collaboration between CareOregon and Multnomah County, the facility will also include LifeWorks Northwest for mental health services. Other organizations also will be involved and will be announced when agreements have been concluded.

And the collaboration will go beyond the walls of the facility.

“It’s a community effort, so not all parties will be located at this clinic,” James says. “Instead, we will be coordinating with other services in the community to support patients’ overall needs. Rather than operating independently, we are collaborating to decrease duplication and build on our strengths.”

• James Schroeder speaks more about the Rockwood Health Center on video.

CareOregon purchased the 16,000 square feet building for $2.1 million and is refurbishing it. Including the improvements, the total investment will be about $3 million. CareOregon will rent the facility to the organizations that provide the care.

LifeWorks Northwest will provide mental health staff. Multnomah County staff will include four medical clinicians and two dental clinicians. There is room to allow up to eight clinicians and their teams eventually.

From the beginning, the Rockwood facility will operate as a patient-centered primary care home, with medical and mental health teams working together.

“When we remodel the space, we’re taking into consideration team co-location and the needs of the medical home model,” James says.

CareOregon is taking the uncommon step of becoming involved in the direct provision of care because of the need and the tough financial times.

“Tough economic times means that more people are in need of services at the same time that counties and other organizations lack the financial resources to fill the need,” he says. “And that requires some creativity and new ways to meet the need.

“Capital is one of the things that limit growth,” he says.

Multnomah County had applied for a grant under the federal stimulus program to acquire a new clinic, but did not get it. CareOregon stepped in to provide the capital that can fill the need,” James says.

“This isn’t isolated to Multnomah County,” he says. “We’re also looking at needs in other counties to see if there are ways we can collaborate with our clinician partners.”

(The Rockwood Health Center was announced first in former Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler’s 2010 State of the County address. Read more about it here, or see the video of the whole speech.)