Community Benefit Initiatives
We are dedicated to building a healthy community. At Cascade Health Alliance (CHA), we know that being healthy goes beyond medical care. A person needs a safe home, nutritious meals, access to education, and has the opportunity to reach their highest level of health to live their healthiest life.
That is why every year we help fund local initiatives that advocate and create health equity, as well as improve the health of our community through providing resources that combat social determinants of health. Let us tell you more about how our community benefit initiatives work.
Social Determinants of Health and Health Equity
We select our community benefit initiatives based on how well they address our local population's social determinants of health and increase health equity. These factors help determine a person's health outside of the doctor's office and the hospital.
Social determinants of health include such issues as:
- Education
- Homelessness
- Access to food
- Poverty
- Workforce development
- And more
By funding groups focused on these issues, our work addresses community health at the foundation of a person's life.
Opportunities for Funding Include:
CHA awards Social Determinants of Health and Health Equity organizations in three different ways:
- One-Time Donations: CHA provides funds to programs requesting support for their events on a case-by-case basis throughout the year.
- Program sponsorships. CHA sponsors local programs that make a difference in the lives of our community. Groups can apply for sponsorship anytime by filling out our Sponsorship Application.
- SHARE Initiatives. We award organizations to Support Health and All through REinvestment (SHARE Initiatives) once a year. To be considered for a SHARE funding opportunities, organizations must fill out a Request for Applications (RFA). For questions about RFA or to be put on our RFA email distribution list, please contact proposals@cascadecomp.com.
How We Choose Initiatives
We start by doing our homework. Our team at CHA studies our local community health assessment to learn about the issues facing our population. After that, we make a three-year strategic plan called the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP).
To view the most recent progress report of the 2019 Community Health Improvement Plan, see below.
Community Health Improvement Plan 2021 Progress Report
The CHIP identifies measurable indicators of health improvement and priorities for action. Any program we choose to fund must relate back to the priorities listed in the CHIP and follow the below guidelines:
- Be designed to improve health quality.
- Increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes in ways that are capable of being objectively measured and produce verifiable results and achievements.
- Be directed toward either individuals or segments of enrollee populations, or provide health improvements to the population beyond those enrolled without additional costs for the non-members.
- Be grounded in evidence-based medicine, widely accepted best clinical practice OR criteria issued by accreditation bodies, recognized professional medical associations, government agencies or other national health care quality organizations.
In addition, we fund programs that meet at least one of the following criteria:
- Improve health outcomes compared to a baseline and reduce health disparities among specified populations.
- Prevent avoidable hospital readmissions through a comprehensive program for hospital discharge.
- Improve patient safety, reduce medical errors, and lower infection and mortality rates.
- Implement, promote and increase wellness and health activities.
- Support expenditures related to health information technology and meaningful use requirements necessary to accomplish the activities above that are laid out in which promote clinic community linkage and/or referral processes or support other activities as defined
Improving the Health of Our Community
Community benefit initiatives are just some of the ways we help improve the health of our community. Discover how our coordinated care services help people get quality medical care.