Oregon Rural Health Excellence Award
Oregon’s rural health and community-based organizations (CBOs) often demonstrate exceptional resourcefulness, teamwork and creativity when addressing improvements in health care and health outcomes. To recognize rural hospitals, clinics, local public health departments (LPHDs), EMS agencies and CBOs that demonstrate remarkable dedication to health outcomes in their communities, we invite eligible facilities to apply for the Oregon Office of Rural Health’s (ORH’s) Rural Health Excellence Award.
ORH will honor up to five awardees, one in each of the following categories: rural hospital, Rural Health Clinic, LPHD, EMS and CBO. Awardees will receive registration scholarships to attend the Annual Oregon Rural Health Conference, where they will be recognized and receive their award. The conference will be held Oct. 7-9, 2026, in Bend, Oregon.
Qualified submissions will demonstrate the successful implementation of strategies that have produced performance or community health improvement related to an innovative project in their facility or community. Successful applications should outline a project addressing a significant problem, employ a data-driven solution and explain what results were achieved. Additionally, they should ideally be scalable for wider adaptation by other rural organizations. This may include, but is not limited to, the following:
- Improving access to care for vulnerable patients (e.g., patients who are pregnant, parenting, older adults, those living with behavioral health or substance use disorders, etc.);
- Improving community health and health outcomes;
- Reducing adverse events (e.g., medication errors, falls, pressure ulcers, infections, etc.);
- Addressing root causes of near miss, adverse or sentinel events (e.g., communication, workflow, human factor innovation, reconfiguration of space, etc.);
- Using multidisciplinary teams to implement new strategies for emerging patient health needs (e.g., sepsis response teams, multi-visit patient readmissions, etc.); or
- Managing population health across the care continuum (e.g., addressing social drivers of health, chronic care management, care coordination, complex case management, etc.).
ALL rural Oregon hospitals, rural health clinics (RHCs), rural LPHDs, EMS and CBOs are invited and encouraged to participate in this awards program. Up to five awardees will be named: one hospital, one RHC, one LPHD, one EMS agency and one CBO. Multiple applications from the same organization are accepted.
Applications are submitted in narrative form by uploading your application via an online form. To help you understand what is included in the application, the following outlines what it entails.
1. Cover page containing the following information:
- Hospital, RHC, LPHD, EMS agency or CBO name and address;
- Name, title, organization name, email address and phone number of contact person;
- Name, title, organization and email address of executive sponsor; and
- Title of application.
2. Executive summary or abstract (limit 200 words)
3. Background and relevance of the problem being addressed. Include qualitative and quantitative data, if relevant.
4. Describe the project. Include a description of the implementation team, resources used, such as SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely), grant funds, etc., and any program/quality improvement methodology used (e.g., rapid cycles, RPIWs, LEAN). Note any challenges encountered and how they were overcome.
5. Report any results achieved. How has the project improved health outcomes in your service area? Will the project be redesigned, sustained, or scaled up?
6. How could another organization implement this project in their area (i.e., what advice would you offer another organization to implement this project?)
7. (Optional, not scored) Share lessons learned and any advice for rural peers who may undertake similar efforts. Include any strengths of the team or project that contributed to its success.
8. Share photos, graphs, charts or documents to share and support your project.
Complete your application here.
The application deadline for 2026 awards is August 31, 2026.
A panel of experts with demonstrated experience executing rural health projects will review and score each complete application using the following criteria:
- Significance: How significant is the problem being addressed? For example, does this project improve care for a traditionally underserved or vulnerable population?
- Data-driven approach: How were data (qualitative and quantitative) used to inform the design and impact of the project?
- Potential to improve health outcomes: Has or does this project have the potential to improve health outcomes in rural communities?
- Results: What was achieved or learned, and how does this inform next steps?
- Scalability: Perceived value to other rural hospitals, RHCs or CBOs and likelihood of wider adoption and spread. This includes the potential application of the project’s approach to other clinical areas.
Awardees of the Oregon Rural Health Excellence Award will be recognized among their peers at the Annual Oregon Rural Health Conference in Central Oregon each fall.
Contact
For questions regarding the Oregon Rural Health Excellence Award, please contact:
- For Critical Access Hospitals: Stephanie Sayegh | sayegh@ohsu.edu
- For Rural Health Clinics: Rondyann Gerst | gerst@ohsu.edu
- For Rural EMS Agencies: Joan Field | fieldj@ohsu.edu
- For Rural Local Public Health Departments: Sarah Andersen | ansarah@ohsu.edu
- For Community-Based Organizations: Stepha Dragoon | dragoon@ohsu.edu