Clatsop County, in the northwest corner of Oregon, is a popular seaside destination for tourists from Portland, about 100 miles away, and beyond. The county seat, Astoria, is the oldest American settlement west of the Rockies. The primary industries are forestry, fisheries, and tourism/recreation. There is also a large Coast Guard facility in Astoria.
Primary health-related issues are obesity/lack of physical activity, addiction and other mental health issues (including ACEs), and housing insecurity.
Wellville advisor Marya Stark supports the work in Clatsop County. The Clatsop team is focused on creating greater health equity, working within two coalitions: the Clatsop Equity Committee and an organizing committee to apply for a Regional Health Equity Coalition (RHEC) designation. Long-term goals include:
Clatsop Equity Committee
A group of local stakeholders are working to identify sustainable long-term initiatives to improve equity. The group is also growing the impact and influence of the Committee, including by publicizing its work in local media.
Regional Health Equity Coalition (RHEC) designation
Stakeholders from Clatsop, Tillamook and Columbia counties are collaborating to apply for an RHEC designation from the state. RHECs are collaborative, community-led, cross-sector groups organized regionally to identify and address health equity issues. Coalitions prioritize communities of color as primary populations of focus.
Pre-kindergarten (pre-k) slots
The team engaged Social Finance and the Sorenson Impact Center to complete a feasibility study for a pre-kindergarten Pay for Success program. While Pay For Success wasn’t viable, the process gave the County valuable data and relationships for adding pre-k and child care slots. The team is working on other angles for a smaller-scale expansion of pre-K.
There is so much in our hearts and minds following these tumultuous past few months and intense past few days. This is a moment to consider the causes of the consequences that are now on full display. It’s time to call out what led to such health disparities and what will it take to improve outcomes for all.
When Covid-19 hit the US, we asked ourselves: Now that everyone is just trying to stay alive and save jobs, is Wellville just a distraction? We can’t just preach about the long term and what people want to achieve by the end of the Wellville project while they are busy responding to the short term. Instead, we tried a different question: How can we build a better long-term future even as we address current needs?
A this year’s Wellville Gathering, teams from the Wellville 5 communities explored what it will take to shift long-term thinking and action among institutions, people and systems.
The data below represent an overall picture of health and wellbeing in Clatsop County – a realtime snapshot, if you will. For data that’s tied to the specific work we’re doing, see above and in the stories we share.
Population: 40,224
No Data Found
Land area (sq. mi): 829.05
Median age: 44.2
Median household income
No Data Found
2019 data
Poverty rate
No Data Found
2019 data
High school graduation rate
No Data Found
2019 data
Severe housing problems *
No Data Found
* Percentage of households with at least 1 of 4 housing problems: overcrowding, high housing costs, lack of kitchen facilities, or lack of plumbing facilities (2013-2017).
Adult obesity
No Data Found
2017 data
Adult smoking
No Data Found
2018 data
Years of potential life lost *
No Data Found
* Years of potential life lost before age 75 per 100,000 population. Data covers 2017-2019.
Uninsured *
No Data Found
* Persons under the age of 65 (2019 data)
Per capita Medicare spending *
No Data Found
* As a percentage of insured; does not include uninsured. Data from 2019.
Insurance sources
No Data Found
2019 data
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