Portland, Ore. The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) has released a comprehensive three-year plan aimed at eliminating health inequities across the state, positioning Oregon as the first state to set equity targets in healthcare, the agency announced Tuesday.
The 2024-2027 Strategic Plan focuses on addressing health disparities, which OHA defines as differences in health outcomes caused by unfair structural barriers such as systemic racism, discrimination, and bias.
OHA identified five key pillars in its plan to tackle some of the most significant challenges affecting Oregonians. According to the agency, factors like race and geographic location can lead to disparities in overall health, with Black, African American, American Indian, and Alaska Native populations having shorter life expectancies than white residents. Additionally, rural communities face higher rates of depression, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, with fewer options for healthcare services.
The first pillar of the plan prioritizes behavioral health by expanding the workforce, increasing community-based and preventative services for children and youth, and improving access to life-saving overdose reversal medications.
OHA’s next focus is improving access to affordable healthcare and creating healthier environments for families. This includes promoting safe pregnancies, reducing hospital visits, mitigating the health impacts of wildfire smoke, lowering childhood lead poisoning rates, and addressing disparities in immunization.
The third pillar emphasizes working with Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes to enhance tribal community health. OHA also aims to strengthen its internal capacity to eliminate health inequities.
Dr. Sejal Hathi, Director of OHA, stressed the importance of collaboration in achieving these goals. “We cannot achieve this alone. That’s why we’re launching a statewide call to action — mobilizing our collective will and calling on partners from state and local governments, healthcare providers, academia, philanthropy, and business to join us. Most importantly, we need sustained community engagement to drive solutions.”
This strategic plan builds upon OHA’s 2019 commitment to eliminate health inequities in Oregon by 2030.
