Community care hubs, or simply “hubs”, are organized networks that bring together and support community-based organizations (CBOs) and healthcare workers to meet community needs. These hubs offer a central point of coordination—creating infrastructure to share information and streamline administrative tasks related to delivering and paying for services. They can also track what services are available in a region or help communities manage their shared resources. While Oregon does not yet have statewide hub system, several regions throughout the state have successfully piloted topic or provider specific hubs, and this approach is spreading across the country.

In September, student Erin Fessler, Health Policy Director Nancy Goff, M.P.H., and Project Coordinator Raven Merritt Shorb, M.P.H. presented detailed findings at the Oregon Rural Health conference in Bend. Key findings included:

• Hubs could solve Oregon community-based organizations’ highest identified need; resource, service, information sharing, and navigation support across organizations.
• Oregon’s community-based organizations are already highly networked and collaborative in their regions. For some communities, better coordination and organization is needed as a lot of CBOs and coordinated care organizations are already performing various hub functions.
• Oregon’s statewide investment to build the capacity of health-related social needs providers has had a significant, positive impact in enabling small and medium-sized CBOs participate in health and social care systems.
• Many regions of Oregon have successfully built hubs around provider type (e.g., community health workers) or service type (e.g., housing; chronic disease self-management). This may be different from other states. 

ORPRN is excited to amplify and ground our next steps in community voice. Over the next 18 months, we look forward to partnering with rural coordinated care organizations to apply these learnings and explore hub development in their regions.  

Interested in learning more about how hubs could be useful in your region? Contact Nancy Goff, ORPRN Health Policy Director at goffna@ohsu.edu.