Mosaic Community Health is proud to be one of nearly 1,500 Community Health Centers across the nation celebrating National Health Center Week. For nearly 60 years, health centers like Mosaic have been dedicated to making quality and affordable health care available to everyone in their communities, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay.

Community Health Centers started in the 1960s as a pilot project during President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty and today they are the backbone of our nation’s primary care system. Health centers are not just places for healing; we are innovators who look beyond medical charts to not only prevent illness but also address the factors that may cause poor health, such as poverty, homelessness, substance use, mental illness, access to nutritious food, and unemployment. During fires, floods, hurricanes and pandemics, health centers are first on the scene and are vital to keeping America healthy.

Health Centers save the U.S. healthcare system money by reducing the rate of chronic diseases and costly hospital visits. We collaborate with hospitals, local and state governments, social, health, and business organizations to improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs in our communities.

Since the day we opened the doors of our first clinic in Prineville in 2002, we have worked hard to keep Central Oregon healthy and safe. Our team of nearly 450 dedicated team members serve 30,000 patients through a network of more than a dozen sites across our region, including sites in Bend, Redmond, Prineville, Madras and Sisters. Mosaic operates seven School-Based Health Centers open to any child from birth through age 18 and many of our other sites are embedded clinics in partnership with county offices and affordable housing agencies.

Mosaic is a private, non-profit, community health center organization, also known as a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and our clinics are open to anyone seeking care, with a “sliding scale” of fees adjusted to their ability to pay. Our model is to provide the same high quality care to all patients—no matter their means. Our team-based care includes integrated services such as behavioral health, nutrition, clinical pharmacy, dental, community health worker support and more.

Health centers like Mosaic not only prevent illness and foster wellness in the most challenging populations, we produce innovative solutions to the most pressing healthcare issues in our communities. We stay responsive to community needs and issues by uniquely requiring that at least 51% of our board members are patients. These community members volunteer their time to govern our health center, guiding our reach beyond the walls of conventional medicine to address the many factors that may cause sickness. Mosaic also regularly conducts a thorough assessment of changing needs in our community via input from English and Spanish speaking Patient Advisory Council members, staff, community partners and other regional data sources.

Because of our long record of success in innovation, managing healthcare costs, and reducing chronic disease, health centers have a long history of receiving bipartisan support from House and Senate lawmakers in Congress. We are grateful to our Central Oregon community members for supporting our organization and our mission to provide trusted quality care, with compassion and support for all for the past 22 years. We look forward to continuing to serve our community for many years to come.

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