Klamath & Lake Counties, Oregon

Healthy Klamath Coalition and the South-Central Early Learning Hub (Douglas ESD backbone)

Problem

Silos prevent collaboration. Government, nonprofits, businesses, schools, and residents work in parallel instead of together. Duplication wastes resources; gaps persist.

Solution

Healthy Klamath is a multi-sector coalition formed in 2012 by Klamath County Public Health, Sky Lakes Medical Center, Klamath Open Door and Cascade Health Alliance after the county ranked at the bottom of Oregon's County Health Rankings; Klamath County won a 2018 RWJF Culture of Health Prize ($25,000) and the coalition produces a three-year community health assessment and improvement plan (2022-25 CHIP). The South-Central Early Learning Hub, established July 1, 2014 with Douglas ESD as backbone, serves Douglas, Klamath and Lake counties through a Regional Governance Council, county governance councils, a Family Governance Advisory Committee and professional advisory committees, and posts agendas and minutes back to 2015. The hub names the Cow Creek Band and the Klamath Tribes as communities it serves, but no document describing formal government-to-government relationships was found, and in December 2025 the Regional Governance Council voted unanimously to file a letter of no confidence in Douglas ESD as backbone organization.

Patterns used: Civic Intermediary Table