August 4, 2025
As OCHIN continues to celebrate our 25th anniversary alongside our national member network and partners, we’re honored to reflect on the important work of the nation’s community health centers during National Health Center Week.
Health centers are a vital part of the U.S. health care system, reducing barriers to care and providing high-quality, whole-person care to nearly 32.5 million people nationwide. For many in rural and medically underserved communities, the local health center is the primary—and often most accessible—source of care.
OCHIN’s very first members—the core organizations that sparked our 25-year journey of connecting and transforming community health care with our members and partners—were a handful of health centers in Oregon that came together with a straightforward, shared goal: to provide the best possible care to their communities. They knew they needed access to the right tools and technology to make that happen.
“OCHIN came and said, ‘We’re all going to do this together,’” said Gil Muñoz, CEO of original OCHIN member Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center and member of OCHIN’s board of directors, in a video commemorating our 25th anniversary.
From Oregon roots to a growing national network
With a small grant, OCHIN connected the group of Oregon health centers through a shared electronic health record system. Although the original grant was limited to Oregon, OCHIN expanded our services and welcomed our first California member onto OCHIN Epic in 2005. Today, OCHIN Epic’s membership includes 42 states coast-to-coast and reaches nearly 7.7 million patients—about 25% of all health center patients nationwide.
“That was the spark … and then from there, we had to make it sustainable, we had to make it affordable because it was the right thing to do,” said Abby Sears, president and CEO of OCHIN, in our anniversary video.
As OCHIN’s geographic reach and impact grew over the quarter century following the initial initiative in Oregon, so did our offerings and workforce to meet the evolving needs of community health care providers. For example, OCHIN’s Health Center Controlled Network was established in 2012 and became the largest in the nation in 2019. The OCHIN-led ADVANCE Clinical Research Network was established in 2014, followed by an expansion of our suite of knowledge solutions and advocacy work in 2017. OCHIN+, a comprehensive workforce development program, launched in 2022. In 2023, OCHIN began offering OCHIN Epic to rural hospitals.
The future of collective impact
A key part of OCHIN’s transition from strictly an EHR provider to a full-service consultancy has been the growth and expertise of our own workforce. OCHIN’s team of experts in health care operations, clinical informatics, information technology, research, knowledge management, and consulting has grown to more than 1,200. With employees in 49 states and a designation as one of The NonProfit Times’ Best Nonprofits to Work For, our national virtual workforce has been instrumental in OCHIN Epic’s top recognition from Epic and KLAS.
Today, OCHIN is a trusted knowledge solutions partner and national consultancy for more than 300 independent community health care organizations, with more than 2,000 delivery sites across ambulatory and acute care settings. Our member network includes rural hospitals, public health departments, a growing number of Indigenous and tribal health clinics, and other community organizations committed to improving the health and well-being of their communities.
“(It’s a) community of people who are all leveraging and trying to get the best out of one system, with the same goal of improving access and helping our patients be healthier,” said Domonic Hopson, president and CEO of Neighborhood Family Practice, an OCHIN member in Ohio.
As we reflect on 25 years of collective progress, we look forward to the next chapter of helping health centers and other community care providers enhance clinical quality, improve financial and operational wellness, and support clinician well-being. Together, our member network and partners will continue to forge a path toward good health and well-being for all.
Join OCHIN’s 25th anniversary celebration, and follow OCHIN on Instagram and LinkedIn to engage with us and our members during National Health Center Week and beyond.
