Michael Kraft
Today we’re looking at a significant nonprofit organization that seems to be less well known than they should be. I’ll admit that I hadn’t heard of them until recently. I talked with Chief Operating Officer Jessica Osborne-Stafsnes to learn more.
The North Coast Health Improvement & Information Network (NCHIIN-pronounced EnChen) formed 15 years ago. It launched when electronic medical records caused a need for regional healthcare information exchanges. It’s understandable if you’re reading this and thinking that health care records and similar things are unsexy. But there’s a saying in healthcare that “data moves at the speed of trust.” This work, although semi-hidden, proves to be critical.
NCHIIN is the nonprofit sister of the Humboldt Independent Practice Association, (Humboldt IPA). The basic need was for a coordinated, compliant, and secure way of handling and sharing medical records with those providers who legitimately need it. NCHIIN built the communication ‘pipes’ that allow for the sharing of health information in real time.
Over time, NCHIIN’s mission has grown, including a broad focus on community health improvement and wellbeing. Early on NCHIIN recognized the need for a system that would support health and social care providers in the coordination of care, In 2010 the organization began to develop a Community Information Exchange .A Community Information Exchange (CIE) is a network of partners like social service, community, tribal, government, physical and behavioral health providers, who commit to coordinating care so that individuals have better access to the services and supports they need to improve their health. They do this through shared access to a secure network database where they can contribute to a single longitudinal client record, share information and make bi-directional referrals.
Even more recently, NCHIIN joined Redwood Region RISE, the North Coast’s slice of a California economic development initiative., NCHIIN serves as the Sector Investment Coordinator in the RISE approach, leading the health and caregiving sector and though this effort, helps both for-profit and nonprofit organizations find resources to bring projects and programs to life. “A lot of it,” Jessica says, “is daylighting what’s out there.” Details are available here: https://www.nchiin.org/redwood-region-rise-california-jobs-first/.
A theme one hears a lot from folks in Humboldt’s nonprofits applies here: “We’re small but mighty.” All NCHIIN staff also work for the Humboldt IPA, with about 9 people in those shared roles. (For the accountants reading this, the full-time equivalent (FTE), is lower.)
I asked Jessica about any impacts from federal, state and county budgets on NCHIIN. She told me that she is not aware of direct impacts as of now, but partners’ capacity will almost certainly be affected.
You won’t find a donate button on the Network’s website, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities to help out. For example, there’s the North Coast Resource Hub, which started with a focus on harm reduction, substance use disorder prevention, and treatment, has now expanded to include resources for a wide variety of services. “How do we grow it out; how do we optimize it?” Jessica says they need community input.
There’s also service on the Board of Directors. Originally, board members largely came from the organization’s history in information exchange. They now seek to include broader community representation. For people passionate about making a difference in health and wellness, this could be the volunteer gig for you.
People interested in serving in one of these ways can reach out to Jessica directly at josborne@humboldtipa.com.
She also wants people to know about the first ever Humboldt County Community Information Exchange Summit in October 2025. This is a good opportunity for community organizations to learn more about the CIE network and how to get involved. Folks can pre-register and learn more about the summit here: CIE Summit Registration.
There are other health info exchanges around the country. Jessica believes that NCHIIN’s small size and ruralness “have given us an advantage in trying new things.” Community Health Improvement programming is an example. There are not a lot of organizations that perform both information exchange and run health improvement collaboratives. They also offer network administration support–that is IT help–for organizations like schools and small health & medical care, both for-profit and nonprofit.
Jessica says that “we feel like we’re gap-fillers. How can we bring our assets and experience to a variety of topics, especially if there’s a need for an organization to hold space for the larger community issues?” NCHIIN’s work to establish an Accountable Community for Health- The Humboldt Community Health Trust- is an example. The HCHCT started with a focus on comprehensively addressing Substance Use Disorder through prevention and treatment strategies. Substance use is such a large, multi-faceted set of issues. NCHIIN convened interested people, assessing what was happening in the community to help support the development of systemic interventions. The establishment of the Community Information Exchange and the North Coast Resource Hub were a direct result of this work in this and other ways, the staff at NCHIIN attempt to tackle community-wide issues that are too big for any one organization or sector to address alone.
The North Coast Health Improvement & Information Network has evolved significantly over the past 15 years. Their contributions deserve to be better known.
Good Work is a series written by Michael Kraft, who volunteers on behalf of the Northern California Association of Nonprofits (NorCAN). NorCAN supports connections between people and organizations that work every day to keep our communities healthy and strong by offering professional development, board support, networking connections and more. Learn more at https://norcal-nonprofits.org/. To nominate a deserving nonprofit organization to be profiled, email michael@kraftconsultants.com.
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