Willamette Valley Council Makes Strong Community Impact
The Willamette Valley Council (WHC) is an organization that focuses on giving back to the community by directing the funds of the Marion and Polk County Coordinated Care Organization (CCO).
Founded in 2019, The WHC is the governing body for Pacific Source Community Solutions and together they manage the CCO to help advance health system transformation, improve the quality and availability of health care, invest in the determinants of health, work to eliminate the disparities of health inequity and reduce the cost of health care.
“A lot of what we do is reinvestment with Pacific Source dollars,” Executive Director Justin Hopkins said. “They cap their margin at two percent and everything else is reinvested back in the community and will go to the health council. We’ll then work with the board to find the most impactful way to give the money back, whether it’s education, housing, transportation, our annual report will give us a good sense.”
The organization helps reinvest a lot of Medicaid dollars back into the community and the annual report shows where all the investments go every year.
“For Medicaid in Oregon, we have what is called coordinated care organizations that have contracts with the state of Oregon,” Hopkins said. “They are like the insurance company for folks that have Medicaid. We work with them just in this region. They cover on average 145-150,000 people and make sure that they have coverage for health care services.”
In their agreement with Pacific Source, Willamette Health Council takes the lead in the forward-facing work. Additionally, they administer a clinical advisory panel with 20-30 health care practitioners that come together and provide the organization with strategic direction, funding priorities, youth and family services, responsibility for the system of care and diversity and inclusion work.
“Pacific Source has a unique model in that they operate the insurance side of things and contract with the providers, handle claims, contract with the state, but contract a couple of functions to the Willamette Health Council,” Hopkins said.
The organization is well known amongst the community-based organizations and health care partners in Marion and Polk County and uses some of their funds for competitive community grants as well as donations and sponsorships.
The amount they are able to work with each year is dependent on the profitability of Pacific Source. If it’s not a profitable year for Pacific Source, there will be fewer dollars in the community. In 2023, they had 12.7 million dollars to spend, which was the highest number they’ve had. In 2022 the number was 0 and in 2024 they had 4 million.
“Each year we run our community impact grants that are available for the community to apply for,” Hopkins said. “The Willamette Health Council looks at the overall health in the community and we want to come up with strategies to impact the overall population.”
Willamette Health Council is a beacon for the community and will continue working to find the best ways to invest in the overall health of Marion and Polk County.