Northwest Human Services, Inc is a nonprofit organization providing comprehensive medical, dental, mental health, and social services through the operation of health and service centers in Salem and
Monmouth, Oregon. Our mission is to meet the needs of community members, regardless of social or economic status, by providing comprehensive medical, dental, mental health, and social services with respect, compassion, and acceptance of cultural and linguistic diversity.
Located in Salem and
Monmouth respectively, our clinics provide full-service primary medical care and serve as patient-centered medical homes. The majority of patients are insured by Medicaid, or uninsured. As an FQHC, no patient is denied services due to an individuals’ inability to pay. In 2013, the clinics served 10,683 patients totaling
36,508 visits.
The West Salem
Mental Health Clinic provides services for clients with a variety of mental health issues. From complex psychological disorders to minor depression and problems of daily living, our staff help clients reestablish balance in their lives. In 2013 we served 1,505 patients totaling 8,707 encounters. The Connection
Program provides counseling, advocacy, case management, victim’s services, information and referral for individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing and their families. This program is housed with the West
Salem Mental Health Clinic. In 2013, Connection served 38 clients totaling 611 encounters.
The Dental Clinic provides emergent and restorative dental services.
In 2013, the clinic served 1,468 patients totaling 3,395 visits.
HOST provides street outreach, a drop-in center, emergency shelter and care to runaway and homeless youth and young adults. Other areas of service include crisis intervention, access to medical, dental, and mental health services, counseling, skills development and information, and referral services for youth in crisis and their families. The Transitional
Living Program component provides housing and case management services to emancipated youth assisting them to achieve independence. In 2013, HOST made over 10,000 contacts with youth and young adults.
The 24-hour hotline provides information, referral, crisis counseling, emergency financial assistance, and other services to individuals and families in the service area. Springwire voicemail telephone message services are also provided for individuals who are homeless, phoneless, or at risk of domestic violence. The program is accredited by the American Association of Suicidology. In 2013, Hotline served over 15,600 individuals and their families.
The
HOAP program offers an array of services designed to get and keep individuals who are mentally ill and homeless, or at risk of homelessness, off the streets and into housing. Case managers and staff provide street outreach, crisis intervention, education, skills training, access to medical, dental, and mental health services, and therapeutic support to integrate these individuals into the community and improve their quality of life.
HOAP operates a day center that provides many services to people who are homeless, including food, laundry and shower facilities, and a chance to socialize. In 2013, HOAP served 2,583 distinct clients totaling 18,915 encounters.

June 30,
2014
June 30,
2013
Assets
Total Current Assets $ 7,730,786 $ 4,775,447
Property & Equipment 4,638,954 4,514,296
Investments 2,971,662 5,124,088
Investment in the CCO 272,728 272,728
Total Assets $ 15,614,130 $ 14,686,559
Liabilities
Total current Liabilities $ 1,041,782 $ 876,525
Long-Term Debt, less
Current Maturities
Net Assets
Total Liabilities and Net
Assets
1,029,362 1,090,781
13,542,986 12,719,253
$ 15,614,130 $ 14,686,559
This year transformation is upon us!
The challenge to meet the demands of Oregon’s swelling Medicaid eligible patient population is huge. Statewide, Medicaid enrollment has grown 59%, from 614,000 to 976,000 individuals. The number of uninsured Oregonians has dropped to 5%. The patient ranks of our CCO, Willamette Valley Community
Health, have increased from 65,000 to 100,000 patients in the last nine months.
Our CCO did well in its first full year of operation, meeting state benchmarks for
Patient Centered Primary Care Home Enrollment, Emergency Room Utilization,
Diabetes Control, Clinical Depression Screening, Timeliness of Prenatal Care,
Assessment for Kids in DHS custody, Follow-up After Hospitalization for Mental
Illness, Controlling High Blood Pressure, Electronic Health Record Adoption,
Alcohol and Drug Screening, Colorectal Screening, and Developmental
Screening. NWHS did our part, and as a result received over $161,000 in incentive funds to continue our work on these initiatives.
In such rapidly changing times, I am pleased the Board, Directors and Staff were able to carve out time in busy schedules this past June to prioritize our strategies for the coming 12-18 months, as outlined in our updated strategic plan. Consistent with our strategic plan, we have already implemented a significant number of changes:
To begin with, we have consolidated programs physically and operationally. In years’ past, our Psychiatric and Mental Health outpatient services were colocated with the West Salem Clinic, but operated independently from one another.
Psychiatric and Mental Health are now part and parcel of the West Salem
Clinic Team. Under the direction of one leadership team, we have reduced barriers to care, as former siloed services are now blended through the formation of multi-disciplinary care teams. Our Care Coordination Teams include Medical and Mental Health Providers, Health Educators, Behaviorists,
Case Managers and Community Outreach staff. Teams improve the patient experience by creating greater access to Providers. The Team approach adds expertise and resources to aid our patient’s understanding of their health issues, treatment recommendations, referrals and connections with community supports.
Integration of medical, dental and mental health services and the formation of Care Coordination Teams has been, and will continue to be, an area of primary focus. Creating highly effective teams takes time and a concerted effort to master. While we continue to work out the specifics of communication and coordination, we have made great strides; as evidenced by our successful application for a two year $500,000 HRSA grant to support our work to fully integrate medical and mental health care.
Critical to the success of our integration efforts is capturing the voice, input, and feedback of our patients. Ensuring services are culturally competent and of high quality is essential. Our Performance Improvement staff, Compliance staff, Human Resource staff and our Provider, Nursing and Case Management staff each play an important role in keeping our focus on improving the patient experience and health outcomes. Our Consumer Board members,
Patient Advisory Committee, Training Steering Committee and Employee
Wellness Committee provide direction, feedback and guidance in our continuous journey to provide operationally efficient cost-effective care which is highly valued by our patients.
Integration that places primary medical, dental and mental health services at the core of our mission supports the holistic treatment of each patient. The key to this whole-person centered approach is wrapping these core services with case management, patient education, outreach & eligibility assistance, emergency financial assistance, overnight shelter assistance, transitional housing, drop in day center and other enabling services which have been the hallmark of HOST, HOAP and Hotline for more than three decades. No other single agency in our community does what NWHS does in terms of the breadth and depth of integrated medical, dental, mental health and wrap-around social services!
2014 Board of Directors
Chair: Mike Wise Vice Chair: Phil Swogger Treasurer: Samantha Feldman Secretary: Susan Scott
William Dettwyler, Beth Fusco, Larry Goodreau, Eloisa Hernandez, Hen Mach, Jan Margosian, Pauline Mather, Michelle Pecora, Robert Stephens