Umpqua+Community+Health+Center: What these mean to us at UCHC

As they say, names of things have real meaning. I think that our name, Umpqua Community Health Center, very much promotes who, and what, we are.

The “Umpqua” portion is pretty obvious. It establishes a direct link to who we support, and where we focus our efforts geographically. This is the “where?” of our mission.

“Community” is a little bit trickier to explain, because you can determine multiple meaning from that one word. For now, consider that “Community” is a reminder to us at UCHC of  the “why?” of what we do.

Including “Health” in our name is needed to differentiate us from other entities (we get confused with Umpqua Community College occasionally…they are literally up the road from us about 5 mins). It is also important to include, so that we may highlight the “what?” of our mission. The term “health” is not joined with “care”, and I think this is a key point to consider. Health goes beyond the care visit with your provider, and speaks to a broader sense of well-being. The results of what we do at UCHC are much more influenced by the decisions you make away from us, than the treatment we do for you in our clinics.

Lastly, I think the word “Center” can be used to guide our mindset here at UCHC. It implies focus. To be “centered” is to be grounded on something, a thought, a common vision, a passion. When you think about it, this is the “how?” of what we do. We recharge and refocus regularly at UCHC, using our passion for taking care of you as a “center”.

In the next few blog posts I’d like to expand on each word of our name in further detail. In the meantime, if you have thoughts related to this post, or any other aspect of our site, please email us at webfeedback@umpquachc.org.

KC