Adventist Health Portland is introducing a new health plan product for employers in the Portland, Ore., metro area, to begin in 2020. This is the organization’s latest effort to extend the reach of the Adventist Health mission in Portland, which began more than a century ago.
Through a clinical partnership with Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and in collaboration with Legacy Health and PacificSource Health Plans, Adventist Health Portland is transforming access to health care coverage. Adventist Health will be working closely with nine other Portland hospitals and more than 5,200 providers to build a network that increases how many people can get care.
“By helping launch this part of the health plan throughout the Portland metropolitan area, Adventist Health is furthering our mission of living God’s love by inspiring health, wholeness and hope to Portlanders,” says Joyce Newmyer, Adventist Health Pacific Northwest Region president. “People are learning about our faith and culture through the expansion of our business relationships, enabling us to care for more patients. As health care continues to rapidly change, these partnerships will now allow us to touch more lives with the healing ministry of Jesus Christ.”
Employers provide health coverage for nearly 1 million of the Portland area’s employees. The new health plan partnership will benefit both small and large employers as well as their employees. Employees will have more opportunities to get high-quality care while employers can manage their health costs more easily.
Cost-effectiveness for employers is a critical part of the new health plan. “Employers in our region continue to grapple with the rising cost to provide comprehensive health benefits to their workforce,” says Dorane Brower, Adventist Health Portland physician services executive. “This collaboration will bring together the latest advances in patient care with proven ways to manage both the cost and quality of care for local employers and their workforce.”
Additional details about this exciting expansion of services will be shared with employers in upcoming months.
Brower and other Adventist Health Portland leaders are confident the new efforts will enhance the reach of the church’s health care mission. “Our sacred calling is helping to improve the lives of individuals and communities,” she says, “so they can experience God’s healing presence and love.”
