“Our local recovery-oriented system of care should serve as a safety net to prevent folks from falling through the cracks. It needs to be diverse, adaptive and in a constant state of innovation, to ensure equitable access,” she says. 

The summit, along with many other community conversations throughout the year, feeds the community action plans JCC has developed in collaboration with partners.

“It is ALL stakeholder feedback,” Jackson says. “The concept of a recovery-oriented system of care has really formed from this feedback that all the parts work together.” 

The summit included personal accounts in the “Stories of Recovery” panel, small-group discussions on topics including engaging youth in recovery and the latest on medication strategies, and an exercise where participants could submit suggestions for improvements in the local system.

The collective feedback also informs JCC’s funding priorities. In 2023, we funded several projects based on prioritized needs, including:

• Expansion of withdrawal management capacity at Addictions Recovery Center 
• Support of the new family treatment campus at OnTrack Rogue Valley
• New substance use disorder navigator positions at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center and Providence Medford Medical Center
• Expansion of contracts with traditional health workers with clinics and community partners
• Collaboration with Jackson County Community Justice to support the recovery needs of those in jail 

These plans will continue to adapt and evolve as we listen to and respond to the needs of the community.

A CHA is typically updated every few years, and Watson says in 2023, “we partnered on a process we believe was inclusive and thorough, and the information we gathered has been very informative.”

Sadie Siders, Jackson and Josephine counties’ Project Coordinator for the CHA, says the success of the 2023 CHA relied heavily on the work of the steering committee, which represents regional hospitals, clinic systems, behavioral health providers and community-based organizations. The committee focused on maximizing community involvement, and their efforts resulted in more than 1,600 survey responses, 17 focus groups and 25 key informant interviews.

“The CHA is a community-owned and -driven plan,” Siders says. “Unless you are living with an issue every day, you’re not going to fully understand it. That’s why it’s so important to defer to our community in this process.”

The CHA also drew on data from reports by the Oregon Health Authority, the Census Bureau and the American Community Survey. These included key information on social determinants of health, chronic disease and air quality.

Several themes emerged from the CHA, including concerns about food insecurity and public safety, and stories from communities that are struggling to access care, including communities of color, people with disabilities and the LGBTQ+ community.

In addition, Siders says respondents expressed a need for a sense of community. “They want the opportunities for us as a larger community to come together to foster a sense of belonging and inclusion,” she says.

With the CHA complete, the next step is to present findings to the community through public meetings. The steering committee will then distill the findings down to a few key priorities for the Community Health Improvement Plan, which will be completed by the end of 2024.