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Olympic Community of Health launches 'Olympic Connect' hub; posts regional resource directory
Summary
Jessica Peterson of Olympic Community of Health briefed the board on Olympic Connect, a newly launched community care hub offering trained 'trusted helpers', a regional vetted resource directory and partner network to connect residents to services across the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas.
Jessica Peterson, community program coordinator at Olympic Community of Health, presented Olympic Connect to the Clallam County Behavioral Health Advisory Board on May 13, describing the program as a community care hub that connects residents to services via trained trusted helpers and a regional resource directory.
Why it matters: Olympic Connect is intended to reduce siloing among service providers, track referrals and health outcomes, and connect residents to locally vetted, low‑cost or free resources; the hub could be a central referral point for providers countywide.
Peterson said Olympic Connect has already served about 223 individuals and built a regional resource directory of roughly 340 vetted resources. The hub pairs clients with contracted community partners based on geography and need; Peterson described a case study in which a client who self‑referred was paired with the partner First Step, worked on SMART goals for child care, utilities and housing, and was discharged after three months having met immediate needs and sustained engagement with partner programming.
“Olympic Connect is a unified network of partners that seamlessly connects people to the support that they need to thrive,” Peterson said. She described a braided funding model that includes the Washington State Health Care Authority, Economic Development Authority recompete funds (noting recent awards in Jefferson County) and funding from the Washington State Department of Health.
Peterson listed current contracted care‑coordination partners including Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula, First Step, Jefferson Healthcare, Lutheran Community Services Northwest, North Olympic Healthcare Network, Peninsula Community Health Services and multiple YMCA and fire‑based care partners. She said the hub’s intake form is live on OCH’s website and is available in English and Spanish; the public resource directory was recently made publicly accessible after a period of availability only to contracted partners.
Performance measures cited include number of referrals, percent of clients satisfied with hub services, percent of social and health needs met and partner capacity. Peterson said the hub uses a results‑based accountability framework to measure “how much we did, how well we did it, and is any one person or system better off.”
Board members asked about referral pathways and how partners can contribute resources; Peterson said partners can sign up for OCH newsletters, suggest resources for vetting or apply to provide care coordination. She distributed English and Spanish flyers and encouraged board members to refer community members via the online intake form or by phone.
Less central details: Peterson said Olympic Connect is early in its implementation and will continue to add partners and refine reporting; no formal funding decisions were made at this meeting.
