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Health Care Reform Advocacy


From our storybank...

Building Partnerships for Progressive Health Care Reform

Isn’t it ironic that the people most affected by the nation’s dysfunctional health care system tend to be from the same communities that are largely left out of reform discussions?

To encourage greater engagement of the communities who would most benefit from health system improvement, Northwest Health Foundation awarded eleven grants totaling $500,000 in 2010.  The grants are part of an effort by the Foundation to help Oregonians shape the next phase of reform by focusing on health equity and public health. 

“Northwest Health Foundation is, at its core, a social justice organization,” said Rev. Mark Knutson, Foundation board member, and chair of the Health Care Reform Committee, in a NWHF press release. “These grants demonstrate how seriously this organization takes issues of equity and fairness.”

In issuing the request for proposals, Northwest Health Foundation asked for innovative partnerships between two or more organizations. Projects were encouraged to include such activities as grassroots organizing, public-will building, coalition building, strategic communications, and policy analysis.

According to Chris DeMars, program officer for the Foundation, the partnerships are a critical element of this funding process.

“By encouraging these unique partnerships, we wanted to bring all voices — experienced advocates as well as those that have been politically marginalized — to the health care reform advocacy conversation,” she said.

For more information, check out:

The article on these grants in the Skanner Newspaper

Northwest Health Foundation Press Release (includes a list of all grantees)

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From our storybank...

Moving the Health Care Constituency

OSPIRG is a 35-year old advocacy organization, with a full-time legislative presence at the capitol, tens of thousands of members across Oregon, and an online activist network of thousands of people.

In 2009, OSPIRG collaborated with Oregonians for Health Security (OHS), a leading voice in health care advocacy in Oregon, to split a one-year, $40,000 grant. The funding enabled the two groups to reach out to 30,000 Oregonians at community events, on the phone, online, and through media – all in an effort to mobilize support for a legislative bill to improve access to health care for all Oregonians.

Influenced by this, and fifteen other health care advocacy efforts funded by the Foundation, the Oregon Legislature passed two bills that are expected to cover 95% of Oregon’s uninsured children and extend coverage to an additional 35,000 low-income adults while instituting a reformed model of health care delivery for Oregonians.

“This may be the most important piece of legislation that we pass out of this building this session. This is a good deal for Oregon,” said Senator Alan Bates (D-Ashland).

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Grantees:

CAUSA Oregon

Organizing and Advocating for Latino immigrant children and their families’ health care

2010 - Part of an effort by NWHF to help Oregonians shape the next phase of health care reform implementation by addressing health equity and public health.

$50,000

The TREE Institute

Collective Health Advocacy for Rooted Latinas/os & Africans (CHARLA-2)

2010 - Part of an effort by NWHF to help Oregonians shape the next phase of health care reform implementation by addressing health equity and public health.

$50,000

American Academy of Family Physicians - Oregon Chapter

Primary Health Care Workforce Reform - an Oregon Partnership

2010 - Part of an effort by NWHF to help Oregonians shape the next phase of health care reform implementation by addressing health equity and public health.

$50,000

Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation

Eyeglass Equity Advocacy Project

2010 - Part of an effort by NWHF to help Oregonians shape the next phase of health care reform implementation by addressing health equity and public health.

$17,647

Oregon Center for Christian Values

Health Care Digital Stories Advocacy Project

2010 - Part of an effort by NWHF to help Oregonians shape the next phase of health care reform implementation by addressing health equity and public health.

$50,000

Cascadia Behavioral HealthCare

Mental Health Consumer Advocacy Initiative 2011

2010 - Part of an effort by NWHF to help Oregonians shape the next phase of health care reform implementation by addressing health equity and public health.

$49,344

Community Health Partnership

Partnering Public Health and Business to Promote Physical Education and Prevent Chronic Disease

2010 - Part of an effort by NWHF to help Oregonians shape the next phase of health care reform implementation by addressing health equity and public health.

$32,750

Center for Intercultural Organizing

Racial Equity and Prevention in Health Care

2010 - Part of an effort by NWHF to help Oregonians shape the next phase of health care reform implementation by addressing health equity and public health.

$50,000

Upstream Public Health

Community and Strategic Planning for Decreasing Oral Health Services through Community Water Flouridation

2010 - Part of an effort by NWHF to help Oregonians shape the next phase of health care reform implementation by addressing health equity and public health.

$35,000

OSPIRG Citizen Lobby

Moving the Health Care Constituency

2008 - To support statewide health reform advocacy activities, including lobbying, before and during the 2009 legislative session.

$40,000

Oregon Small Business for Responsible Leadership


Oregon Small Business Healthcare Initiative Mobilization Project

2008 - To establish an organization to mobilize the small business community in Oregon’s health reform conversation.

$40,000

Oregon School-Based Health Care Network


Building Grassroots Leadership for Policy Change

2008 - To increase youth and family advocacy for, and increase sustainability of, school-based health centers.

$40,000

Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon

Oregon Interfaith Health Justice Campaign

2008 - To mobilize a diverse partnership of the faith- and non-faith based consumers to advocate for statewide health reform.

$40,000

American Academy of Family Physicians - Oregon Chapter

Saving Lives, Saving Money: Finding a Cure for What Ails Health Care in America

2008 - To engage family physicians across Oregon in health reform activities.

$10,000

Washington Community Action Network Education and Research Fund

The Secure Health Care Program

2008 - To organize small business support of health reform in five counties of Southwest Washington.

$40,000

Stand for Children Leadership Center

Increasing Access to Health Care for Children

2008 - To fund advocacy for children’s dental services in Clackamas County and children’s health insurance in Portland.

$25,000

The Archimedes Movement

Health Reform Issues Exposed: An Archimedes/CHAO Partnership

1998 - Part of an effort by NWHF to help Oregonians shape the next phase of health care reform implementation by addressing health equity and public health.

$15,000

Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO)

Racial Equity and Prevention in Health Care Advocacy

1998 - Part of an effort by NWHF to help Oregonians shape the next phase of health care reform implementation by addressing health equity and public health.

$50,000