CareOregon has partnered with North by Northeast community health center for the past 10 years to advance health equity and improve health outcomes in Portland’s Black community.
Located off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on Northeast Alberta Street, North by Northeast was founded in 2006 as a volunteer-run, nonprofit primary care clinic to serve uninsured adults. When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) went into effect in 2014, CareOregon helped North by Northeast transition to a hybrid model that serves mostly Medicaid members, with a small percentage of patients who are uninsured.
In addition to offering free primary care services, North by Northeast operates a variety of community-based health education programs to provide different access points to the Black community, meeting members where they’re at. “We do a blood pressure program in barber shops, we’re in a lot of health fairs and community events, we partner with affordable housing developments to just hang out in the lobby and introduce ourselves to residents, or to provide flu shots or COVID-19 booster shots,” says Executive Director Suzy Jeffreys. “If walking through the clinic door cold doesn’t feel safe or comfortable for folks, given their past experiences with the health care system, then we want them to be able to get to know us in a number of different settings.”
That commitment to providing culturally specific care is the basis of CareOregon’s partnership with North by Northeast, which serves about 900 CareOregon Medicaid members. “The messaging we’ve always gotten from CareOregon, from leadership on down, is that those 800 or 900 patients are really important to CareOregon,” Jeffreys explained. “Their health is really important, they have a relationship with North by Northeast, and CareOregon wants to support North by Northeast to make sure that we’re providing those patients with the best health care possible.”
Jeffreys says that CareOregon has consistently supported North by Northeast by going beyond fiscal sponsorship to providing technical assistance and other resources. “CareOregon has always seen us as a partner and as experts in providing culturally specific care for the Black community. They’ve shown that they respect and value our position and expertise, and as a small organization that has been really validating and affirming to us,” says Jeffreys.
As CareOregon celebrates 30 years of expanding access to health care in underserved communities, we look forward to strengthening our partnerships with local organizations like North by Northeast. Jeffreys anticipates expanding North by Northeast’s efforts in the mental and behavioral health care space. “We’ve spoken with folks at CareOregon about beginning to offer integrated behavioral health care, and we feel confident in our ability to execute this, largely because of the financial support and technical assistance we know will be there from CareOregon.”
