Our Origin Story & Where We’re Going From Here

Most communities know what they need to be healthy. They don’t need to be told what to do; they need the power to make their own decisions and the resources to carry them out.

That’s where CareOregon, Inc., and now CareOregon Foundation, come in. In 1994, three safety net providers—Multnomah County Health Department, the Oregon Primary Care Association, and Oregon Health and Sciences University—imagined “a health plan that is grounded in the community, is responsive to culturally diverse populations and is a model for facilitating health care for all Oregon residents.” Today, 33 years later, CareOregon, Inc. is the state’s largest insurance plan serving those on Medicaid, partnering with communities, providers, and policymakers to serve more than 525,000 individuals.

CareOregon, Inc. saw that our health systems aren’t working for most people. They decided to do something about it, and often that has meant doing something different—trying new approaches, learning from mistakes, and improving along the way.

Of course, health depends on more than just access to healthcare. CareOregon, Inc. has also invested millions of dollars in local organizations, expanding access to transportation, nutritious food, housing, and other things that are foundational to good health. 

But there’s only so much a Medicaid provider can do.

In 2023, the CareOregon, Inc. board of directors created a new entity: the CareOregon Foundation. With an initial investment of $25 million, the CareOregon Foundation has the flexibility to promote health in ways CareOregon, Inc. cannot, because the Foundation can go beyond Medicaid requirements.

Like CareOregon, Inc., CareOregon Foundation is committed to following community leadership and serving people who have faced the greatest barriers to good health and well-being. For our first few years, we are honoring CareOregon, Inc.’s original footprint—the Portland Metro Area, North Coast, and Jackson County—as well as their partnerships with Tribes. This is where our relationships are strongest. Longer term, we plan to learn about and build relationships and trust in other areas of the state. 

We aim to improve health from the ground up across Oregon, advancing the conditions that create a solid foundation for good health.

In 2025, we made our first grants. We chose to focus on communities that are facing attacks on their civil and human rights, who are struggling to meet their basic needs due to recent funding cuts on critical social services. This included immigrant and refugee communities, youth and young people, and LGBTQ+ communities, among others. We also prioritized funding for coalitions, knowing how important it is to strengthen ties across organizations and communities. The moment called for urgency, so we acted quickly to get money out the door.

While we will continue to act with urgency when needed, long-term, intergenerational thinking is one of our three organizational values. As a foundation, we have the luxury and responsibility to invest in work that will improve health and quality of life for generations to come, not just meet immediate needs. 

One way we plan to do that is by putting youth at the forefront. In 2026, not only are we committed to funding youth-led and -serving organizations and coalitions, we are also committed to recruiting youth leaders to our board and our community advisory committee for grantmaking. We want to center their vision of health, because ultimately we are doing this work for them and the generations who will come after.