Waterfall Clinic was founded in 1998 as the result of an extensive, community based, grass-roots effort, for the exclusive charitable purpose of providing fee-adjusted primary health care services to low-income, medically uninsured, medically disenfranchised, and other vulnerable populations in Coos County, Oregon. The agency fulfills this purpose by operating a fully integrated primary health care practice in the population center of North Bend, and a school-based health center on the campus of Marshfield High School in Coos Bay. The agency is mid-course in it’s planning process to establish a third location in the ruggedly remote region of Powers, in cooperation with the Powers Health District.
Effective September 1, 2007, Waterfall Clinic was admitted to the family of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and has been the continuous recipient of federal Consolidated Health Center Cluster Funding since that date. In mid-2009, Waterfall Clinic began doing business as Waterfall Community Health Center. The agency directly employs a physician, multiple nurse practitioners, a dental hygienist, a clinical social worker, and all related medical, clerical, and fiscal support staff. The agency is governed by a community-based board of directors, the majority of whom are representatives of the target population of clinic users.
In addition to Waterfall Clinic’s primary practice, the school-based health center at Marshfield High School, and collaborative programming between Waterfall Clinic and the Powers Health District, there are only two additional access points in Coos County for fee-adjusted primary health care services: a Native American Clinic operated by the Coquille Tribe and delimited to persons of Native American origin; and, the newly started, Bandon Community Health Center.
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August 2009: Community Chest Video Interview
Kathy Laird, Chief Executive Officer for the Waterfall Community Health Center (WCHC), explains the history, purpose and mission of the clinic. She also defines the School Base Health Center's role, as well as other services provided by WCHC such as dental and mental. Laird tells of the future plans for the clinic, which has seen its role in the Bay Area community continue to expand over the years. The clinic serves insured, under-insured and uninsured people in Coos and Curry County.
Part 2
Part 3