About
The Foundation of this Work
The Northwest Regional Primary Care Association’s first Innovation Lab brought together six community health centers from across Alaska, Oregon, and Washington to explore how CHCs can help build the conditions communities need to thrive. Each participating health center identified a real innovation they wanted to advance and sent a small team of leaders to learn, test ideas, and support one another along the way.
NWRPCA developed the Lab in partnership with Community Initiatives, The Rippel Foundation, and the Institute for People, Place, and Possibility (IP3). Together, the project team designed a 10-month learning experience that ran from September 2023 through June 2024.
The Lab was created to help community health centers reimagine their roles, strengthen partnerships, and work across sectors to support thriving people and places. It combined in-person workshops, virtual learning sessions, and peer coaching. Along the way, participants explored the Vital Conditions for Health and Well-Being and key shared stewardship practices, including community engagement, power building, catalytic measurement, and unifying narratives.
Between sessions, each CHC applied what they were learning to its own innovation area, then returned to the cohort for reflection, problem-solving, and peer exchange. The Lab concluded with a Harvest Session, where teams shared what they had learned, the challenges they were navigating, and where they hoped to go next.
This work laid the foundation for the learning space you see here today. The Innovation Lab helped surface the ideas, tools, and examples that now continue to support community health centers across the region and beyond.
NORTHWEST REGIONAL PRIMARY CARE ASSOCIATION
The Northwest Regional Primary Care Association (NWRPCA) is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 membership-driven organization dedicated to strengthening community health centers across Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
Since 1983, NWRPCA has provided training, advocacy, and resources to support high-quality, accessible care—ensuring all people, regardless of income or insurance status, can access essential primary and preventive health services. Guided by a commitment to equity, collaboration, and excellence, NWRPCA partners with health centers to advance healthier communities throughout the Northwest.
This work was made possible by the
RCHN Community Health Foundation
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Thank you to the following community health centers for your participation in this project
Participating CHCs and their innovations
Explore the community health centers (CHCs) participating in the Innovation Lab and the innovations they piloted through this work.
NWRPCA Innovation Lab
The Community Health Centers: A Primer for Advancing Thriving People and Places was created to capture and share key lessons from NWRPCA’s Innovation Lab. It reflects what participating community health centers and partners learned about the Vital Conditions, shared stewardship, and working across sectors to help communities thrive.
Learn more on Community Commons
This resource is hosted on Community Commons, a platform that supports data-informed, community-driven efforts to advance health and well-being.
Community Commons brings together tools, data, and shared learning to support cross-sector collaboration and strengthen the conditions that enable communities to thrive.
