Community Health Hub

At PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, our Mission calls us to care for every person who comes through our doors — not only by treating illness, but by recognizing the full complexity of their lives. For too many in our community, the barriers to wellness begin long before a medical crisis: food insecurity, housing instability, substance use, domestic violence and the daily challenges of living without reliable support.

Thanks to the generosity of community donors, such as the Ed & Dollie Lynch Fund of the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington, PeaceHealth Southwest now has a new and innovative way to meet these needs.

Launched in late 2024, the Community Health Hub brings trusted community social-service partners directly into our Emergency Department (ED), creating a warm, seamless connection to resources at the exact moment patients need them most.

It is a simple idea with extraordinary impact: the right care, in the right place, at the right time. Since opening, the Hub has received over 700 referrals in its first year, addressing everything from housing and food insecurity to substance use and domestic violence. And this number is only expected to grow as the Community Health Hub strengthens its roots. 

Reimagining care through partnership

For years, PeaceHealth worked closely with local agencies to support patients facing social challenges. But traditional referrals — often relying on phone calls, follow-up appointments, or leaving the hospital with a list of numbers to call — were not enough for many who were overwhelmed or living without stable housing, transportation or a phone.

By placing community partners onsite, the Community Health Hub changes that story.

Today, organizations such as Share, YWCA Clark County and Recovery Café Clark County sit shoulder-to-shoulder with our caregivers, ready to support patients experiencing homelessness, food insecurity, domestic violence, substance use or other non-medical needs. Their presence means that patients don’t navigate these challenges alone. They receive compassionate, in-person support from people trained to help them stabilize, reconnect and begin to heal.
 

Meeting people where they are

Every day, our caregivers see patients who come to the ED not because of a medical emergency, but because they simply have nowhere else to go to meet their needs. Nearly 7,000 individuals each year visit the ED five or more times for non-medical needs, carrying burdens too heavy to manage alone.

One patient — a familiar face to many in the ED — came to us multiple times a day for months. When he met with a Community Health Hub partner, the picture became clear. He had no access to his Social Security benefits, no shelter, no working phone, and no way to care for himself. Together, our team and community partners helped him unlock his benefits, reconnect his phone through a low-income wireless program, secure a shelter bed and access bathing facilities and transportation. With stability and support, he stopped visiting the ED — and began taking steps toward recovery and long-term housing.

Another young couple had been living in their car while expecting their first child. Through the Community Health Hub, they were connected to prenatal care, received help applying for insurance, job opportunities, shelter placement, and eventually, assistance moving into an affordable apartment. What began as a crisis became the start of a safer, healthier future.

These are more than success stories. They are reminders that deep healing happens when care extends beyond the clinical — when we see each person’s humanity and walk with them through the most vulnerable moments of their lives.
 

A model shaped by community — and fueled by generosity

The Community Health Hub was designed not in isolation, but alongside the organizations who know our community best. Together, we have built a program that recognizes cultural perspectives, values lived experience and strengthens the trust between patients and those who serve them.

And philanthropy made it possible.

The vision of the Ed & Dollie Lynch Fund sparked this work. Ongoing donor partnership will allow it to grow — expanding access to services, deepening collaboration with additional agencies, and reaching even more patients in need of compassionate, whole-person care.

About PeaceHealth Foundations: PeaceHealth, based in Vancouver, Wash., is a non-profit Catholic health system offering care to communities in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. Since 1890, PeaceHealth has been guided by a Mission of healing and compassion. Today, PeaceHealth Foundations carry forward that legacy — powered by philanthropy and grounded in community. As the philanthropic partner to PeaceHealth’s nine medical centers and more than 160 clinics, we help expand access, advance technology and empower caregivers to provide exceptional and compassionate care. Every gift ensures that outstanding care continues to reach families, friends and neighbors throughout the Northwest. Today, PeaceHealth is the legacy of the founding Sisters and continues with a spirit of respect, stewardship, collaboration and social justice in fulfilling its Mission. Discover the impact of philanthropy at peacehealth.org/foundation.