Rural Health Equity
Cascades East acknowledges the role of addressing structural inequities, dismantling systemic racism, and using decolonizing practices in creating health equity. We are humbly committed to partnering with our community to find the courage, creativity, and wisdom that is needed.
People who live in rural communities experience a “rural mortality penalty” that widens existing disparities such that the effects of race, ethnicity, social determinants, income level, and other factors are magnified in rural areas. (See the Robert Graham Center Annotated Bibliography: Rural Health & GME.)
Klamath County has historically had low health outcomes in the RWJF County Health rankings and our community experiences significant barriers to achieving health. Increasing access to high quality primary care improves health outcomes and having a residency program located in Klamath Falls is an intentional approach to improving health equity.
Our diversity, equity, and inclusion plan is written to describe how we will improve community health by building/enhancing community partnerships with diverse groups in our community. We believe that if we work hard to improve health and increase educational opportunities working with diverse populations, then this will attract and recruit others, including diverse students, residents, faculty, staff who share our values in doing this work. We all support each other to build an inclusive community that celebrates each of our stories and what we bring to our shared work.
Cascades East Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan
Cascades East will improve community health by:
1. Building/enhancing community partnerships that strengthen educational experiences and health outcomes with diverse groups in our community
Implement collaboration with BIPOC populations and develop educational experiences and community experiences to further this effort
Develop a plan for improved health and healthcare for Spanish-speaking populations in our community
Structure community engagement experiences into curriculum, including longitudinal experiences
Implement strategies for improved health of LGBTQ+ communities
Strengthen community bonds through sustainable partnerships, expand presence into schools, outlying areas, and work on the pathways of K-12, college, and health professional learners
2. Increasing recruitment of diverse students, residents, faculty, and staff throughout our organization
Increase education, messaging, and presence around diverse recruitment, the populations that we serve
Implement recruitment processes that increase equity in application review
Use definitions of diversity that broadly reflect our community and underrepresented groups
3. Strengthening retention of diverse learners, faculty, staff
Create a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion task-force to help direct activities and action plans.
Connect with the clinic Patient/Family Advisory Council to include patients, families, community members in our work
Foster a culture that celebrates each contributing voice and values meaning, resilience, and personal development as a means to building a resilient organization and achieving our mission
Promote education and discussion on health equity, cultural humility, diversity and inclusion
Encourage integration and collaboration for all members of our clinical team, creating and participating in a diverse, interprofessional community of practice
4. Improving a climate of inclusion to support diversity
Continue unconscious/implicit bias training
Offering training and services in languages, cultural humility
Support learners, faculty, staff in working with all members of the community in ways that are person-centered and respect the providers, staff, patient, family and community
In 2018 Klamath Falls was the recipient of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Culture of Health Prize.