Day 4: Celebrating National Health Center Week 2026
August 2- 8, 2026 is National Health Center Week! Throughout this week, we’ll showcase stories from a nearly 175-year history of community health services. These stories show how our past informs our present, and celebrate how we’ve evolved to meet everyone’s needs.
Day 4: Expansion of Service Areas
Established in 1990 through grant funding from the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act, the HIV Health Services Clinic (HHSC) initially operated within the Gladys McCoy Building with a small team of 10 staff members serving 250 patients. Today, the HHSC functions as a dedicated medical home, providing primary care, integrated medical case management, mental health services and patient navigation.
That early work sparked a multi-decade expansion of all clinic services, including digital integration in 2006-2007, a pilot system started at the North Portland clinic which spurred a countywide rollout across all primary, specialty, and school-based clinics allowing seamless data sharing between sites.
The Rockwood Community Health Center opened in 2010, followed by a dedicated FQHC Enterprise Fund in 2021 to separate clinical finances from the general fund. Most recently, in the summer of 2023 the health center began offering health screenings, vaccines, dental cleanings, by way of a Mobile Health Clinic. Equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and a caring team of healthcare professionals, the van brings health screenings, vaccines, dental cleanings, and more to locations across Multnomah County where services are needed. And in 2025, La Clinica de Buena Salud relocated to become Fernhill Health Center/La Clinica de Fernhill in the Cully neighborhood, offering primary care, dental, and pharmacy services under one roof.
Tomorrow
Day 5: Where we are now
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