Our Impact

As a nonprofit organization, St. Charles Health System has a responsibility to give back to the Central Oregon community. It is our honor and privilege to fill this important role. 

We take our role as a community resource seriously and do our best to partner with other local groups to ensure Central Oregonians have access to the health services they need when they need them most. We are proud of the contribution our community benefit program makes to support a healing environment and a healthier future for our friends and neighbors. 

Basic needs grant projects 

The St. Charles Community Benefit Department selects a variety of projects each year with the common goal of addressing the health care needs within our region. Recent projects include: 

• Council on Aging of Central Oregon: Funds go toward the organization’s Family Respite Program
• Family Access Network: Funding to support critical FAN advocates in Deschutes County
• Jericho Road: Funds go toward weekend food program that provides food for Redmond kids during the weekend
• Crook County School District: Funds go toward weekend food program that provides food for Prineville kids during the weekend
• KIDS Center: Support for the KIDS Center child abuse intervention center serving Central Oregon. KIDS Center evaluates and treats more than 300 children a year who are suspected victims of abuse
• Redmond Senior Center: Funds go toward providing a variety of services and programs to the senior population in Redmond  
• Crook County Kids Club: Funds are used to provide kids with education, nutritious meals, positive role models and other services 
• The 1017 Project- Beef for Food Banks: Provides a sustainable supply of high-quality beef to food banks

St. Charles Trauma Prevention Program

St. Charles Bend is a Level II Trauma Center, the only one east of the Cascades. St. Charles Redmond is a certified Level III Trauma Center, and St. Charles Prineville and St. Charles Madras are Level IV Trauma Centers. We have one of the most extensive coverage areas in the continental United States spanning from the Columbia River Gorge, east to Idaho and down into parts of Northern California. Our hospitals are affiliated with AirLink for emergency transportation. We serve nearly 1,000 trauma patients annually – around a quarter of which are pediatric. Our services include definitive trauma care for severely injured patients with 24/7 support from the AirLink Critical Care Transport helicopter and fixed-wing airplane, as well as ground ambulance service. 

Community Outreach Programs  

Trauma Nurses Talk Tough (TNTT)

Trauma Nurses Talk Tough was developed in 1986 by three trauma nurses who wanted to put an end to the carnage they saw every day as a result of unnecessary injuries and deaths. TNTT empowers people of all ages to take control of the risks in their lives by teaching them simple ways of changing their behavior. The program is aimed at individuals or groups associated with programs such as driver education courses, court-ordered classes that include DUII and safety belt diversion and family education programs. 

Stop the Bleed (STB)

Our instructors will teach you live - in person, using training materials specially developed to teach bleeding control techniques. They will not only instruct you, they will be available to check your movements as your practice three different bleeding control actions. They will keep working with you until you demonstrate the correct skills to STOP THE BLEED and save a life.  

• What you'll learn 
  • What stops bleeding? In a STOP THE BLEED course, you'll learn three quick techniques to help save a life before someone bleeds out:
    • (1) How to use your hands to apply pressure to a wound;
    • (2) How to pack a wound to control bleeding;
    • (3) How to correctly apply a tourniquet. These three techniques will empower you to assist in an emergency and potentially save a life.  
• How long is a STOP THE BLEED course? 
  • Our STOP THE BLEED courses last no more than 90 minutes. A formal presentation is followed by hands-on practice of applying direct pressure, packing a wound and using a tourniquet to stop bleeding.  

Community Benefit grants

St. Charles Health System has been contributing to programs that benefit the communities it serves since its inception. St. Charles makes it a priority to take care of medically underserved and disadvantaged populations throughout Central Oregon by funding community programs and projects that will improve population health and improve the social, economic and environmental conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live and age in a sustainable, cost-effective manner.  

Applications for funding are submitted to the St. Charles Community Benefit Department and vetted based on their alignment with St. Charles strategic priorities, identified need, impact on target population and other application qualifications. In order for a proposal to be considered for approval, applications must address one or more of the following priorities: 

• Improve access to health care services
• Enhance the health of the community
• Address health disparities or social determinants of health in response to an identified community need
• Advance medical or health care knowledge
• Relieve or reduce the burden on government or other community efforts 

Projects/programs unlikely to be funded:

• Organizations not serving Crook, Deschutes or Jefferson counties.
• Organizations without a 501-c3 tax ID
• Legislative advocacy groups, endowment funds, multiple-year commitments.
• Religious organizations, for the purpose of furthering a specific religious doctrine.
• Requests that benefit a specific person or family.
• Field trips or sports teams.
• Organizations that discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, religion, age, disability, national origin or immigration status, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, genetic information or any other protected class or characteristic.
• Organizations that do not have a process in place to ensure that the event will remain free of offensive, hateful, discriminatory content and actions.
• Indirect costs for the program/project

Apply Online 

Available grants: 

Priority Grant

St. Charles' primary focus for 2023-2025 is reducing feelings of loneliness and social isolation while fostering a sense of belonging.

The purpose of this grant is to support organizations who are interested in creating opportunities for communities to connect in person, with a focus on older adults and youth. We hope to support grassroots events, projects, and programs that make Central Oregon more welcoming and ultimately help get us a step closer to becoming America's healthiest community, together. 

Application requirements: 

1. Funded projects must have multiple opportunities for engagement throughout the year. Examples include:
   • Movie night series
   • Pick-up sporting events (soccer, pickle ball, kickball, hockey, baseball/softball, volleyball, etc.)
   • Book clubs
   • Cooking class series
   • Walking/running groups
   • Monthly community dinners
   • Volunteer days
   • Cultural celebrations
2. Applications must highlight your plans to ensure that your target populations can participate. For example, finding central locations and include access to transportation services, like ensuring they are centrally located for target populations, translated marketing materials or interpretation services, when appropriate.
3. Funded organizations will be asked to track the following process metrics, in addition to your own outcomes.
   • Number of unique individuals
   • Number of new individuals attending occurrences after first event in the series
   • Number of people who attended in target population
4. Priority will be given to programs that focus on:
   • Older adults
   • Youth
   • Marginalized communities
5. Projects/programs unlikely to be funded:
   • Organizations not serving Crook, Deschutes or Jefferson counties.
   • Legislative advocacy groups, endowment funds, multiple-year commitments.
   • Religious organizations, for the purpose of furthering a specific religious doctrine.
   • Requests that benefit a specific person or family.
   • Field trips or PTA events.
   • Organizations that discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, religion, age, disability, national origin or immigration status, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, genetic information or any other protected class or characteristic.

For specific questions related to this grant, please email [email protected] and someone from our team will be in touch.

Apply Online 

Basic needs grants 

In order to be considered for approval, applications must address one or more of the categories listed below.

• Focus on unmet needs in underserved and vulnerable populations
• Provide clearly defined project description and population served
• Be collaborative, involving partnerships with St. Charles Health System and other organizations
• Reduce duplication of efforts
• Demonstrate project innovation, in line with best practices and demonstrate potential impact
• Use quality indicators to measure progress and outcomes, reporting results and sharing them widely to attract more resources
• Plan for self-sufficiency, where appropriate

Apply Online

IDEA Grant

Please reach out to St. Charles Community Benefit staff if you are interested in applying for an IDEA grant, [email protected].

The IDEA grant aims to support community partners who aspire to integrate IDEA best practices within their organization. This grant category is intended to help organizations implement the foundational principles of IDEA into their organizations to better serve their target population.

To be eligible to apply, organizations must meet the following criteria:

• Be a 501(c)3 nonprofit entity
• Demonstrate a direct focus on advancing diversity, equity, inclusion and acceptance within your organization
• Be able to clearly define the project and population served for the grant request
• Demonstrate project innovation, in alignment with best practices and the potential impact of the program

Proposals can be submitted at any time and requests are reviewed three times a year in February, May and October. October grants will be notified about approval/denial and funded in the following year.

Apply Online 

Our community services

Care coordination: Individuals and families in the tri-county region -- including Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties -- are partnered with a community health educators who provides assistance navigating the health care system and identifying and eliminating barriers to accessing health and human services and community resources at no cost to those in need.

Community Benefit: St. Charles has been contributing to programs that benefit the communities it serves since its inception. St. Charles makes it a priority to take care of underserved, disadvantaged populations throughout the tri-county region by funding community benefit programs that will increase population health in a sustainable, cost-effective manner.

Community Health Needs Assessment: The information contained in this report shows us clearly that while many of our communities are thriving, there are also geographic areas where chronic diseases are prevalent, management of those diseases is not under control and barriers to health care exist. From this information, we have determined that our areas of focus over the next year will be reducing feelings of loneliness and social isolation while fostering a sense of belonging in the communities we serve. 

Community Education Classes: 

• Birthing and Breastfeeding  

• Stroke Awareness  

• Heart Health 101 

St. Charles Health System has a bold organizational vision: Creating America’s healthiest community, together.

This vision is our destination. It is the end-goal we are attempting to reach where we can proudly say that to live in Central Oregon is to live in a place where health comes first. We know that to achieve this vision, we must first look hard at the barriers to health that exist in our communities today and do all that we can to address them through our support of community programs, of wellness initiatives and by looking at ways to improve access to care. This work goes hand in hand with the efforts we are making inside our health system to build a culture of continuous improvement. We are striving every day to make our processes more efficient and the care we provide safer for those in need.

Find a special gift for a patient

You can find flowers or a unique gift for patients at a gift store in one of our hospitals. Whether it’s a beautiful bouquet, a set of specialty soaps and lotions or a delicious box of truffles made locally, we’ll have the gift delivered directly to the patient’s room.

• Bend Gift Store
• Prineville Gift Store
• Redmond Gift Store
• Madras Gift Store

We couldn’t do what we do without our volunteers

If you have a spirit to serve, please consider volunteering at one of our hospitals.

Our caring volunteers play an important role, working in partnership with our dedicated staff to meet the medical and emotional needs of patients. Volunteers typically contribute three or more hours a week, although more flexible positions are also available.

Our volunteers help in many ways including:

• Delivering mail and flowers to patients
• Greeting and assisting visitors
• Comforting families waiting for patients in surgery
• Supporting patients and families receiving hospice care
• Discharging patients
• Staffing the Gift Store
• Helping with clerical projects

How to apply

Please download the volunteer application and background check form and fill them out. Please email the completed forms to:

Lee Copeland
Supervisor Guest/Volunteer Services and Gift Stores
[email protected]
541-706-2924

Volunteer application

Opportunities in Bend
Opportunities in Redmond
Opportunities in Prineville
Opportunities in Madras

Therapy Dog Volunteer Opportunities

Our Vision

Creating America's healthiest community, together.

Our Mission

In the spirit of love and compassion, better health, better care, better value.

Our Values

• Accountability
• Caring
• Teamwork

Caring for all for 100 years

For more than 100 years, St. Charles Health System, and its associated hospitals, has provided quality health care to all those in need. The system itself began in 2001 when St. Charles Medical Center in Bend and Central Oregon District Hospital in Redmond merged to form Cascade Health Services. In 2008, the system grew to include Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Prineville through a lease agreement. And in 2010 the organization changed its name from Cascade Healthcare Community to St. Charles Health System. The growth of the system continued in 2013 when Mountain View Hospital in Madras became part of the St. Charles family and changed its name to St. Charles Madras. On Sept. 21, 2015, Pioneer Memorial Hospital closed and a new hospital, St. Charles Prineville, opened for service.

You can read more stories about our history on our blog.

St. Charles Bend Campus

The first hospital in Bend officially opened in 1918 on the banks of the Deschutes River. It was built by five Sisters of St. Joseph and their mission was to care for all or care for none. The current location of the Bend hospital opened in 1975. It became a community, nonprofit organization in the 1970s and maintained an affiliation with the Catholic Church until February 2010. The spirit of compassionate caring first fostered by the Sisters of St. Joseph is alive and well at St. Charles Bend today.

St. Charles Redmond Campus

In 1951, Redmond made history as the first city in Oregon to form a public hospital district. Central Oregon District Hospital was built in 1952 on 20 acres north of town. The public supported the hospital with tax dollars and community members were elected to serve on the Board of Directors up until the time of the merger between the Bend and Redmond hospitals. As part of its continued commitment to the Redmond community, St. Charles Health System invested in the Redmond facility through a $30 million addition that opened in 2006.

St. Charles Prineville

The 62,000 sq. ft. St. Charles Prineville campus opened on Sept. 21, 2015 and offers a wide range of patient, family and visitor services including primary care and specialty care clinics, Emergency Department, Lab, Radiology and Rehab. St. Charles Prineville is leading the way as St. Charles Health System transitions from a medical model to a team-based, integrated patient-centered care model. To be more patient-focused, individual physician offices have been eliminated in favor of central work and lounge spaces for the entire patient-care team. The traditional patient waiting area has been replaced with a concierge-style patient greeting desk and the public area includes seating and a café, which may also be used for community events and gatherings.

St. Charles Madras

St. Charles Madras, previously Mountain View Hospital, first opened its doors in 1967. The hospital worked closely with St. Charles Health System through a management agreement for many years before formally joining the St. Charles system in 2013.

St. Charles Madras is a critical access hospital with 25 licensed beds and 240 employees. The hospital provides surgical services, imaging, intensive care, a Family Birthing Center, medical and emergency care and an outpatient laboratory.

All of the St. Charles Health System hospitals, clinics and other services are dedicated to the communities we serve and are committed to improving the health of our population, reducing the costs of care and enhancing the patient care experience.

Pioneer Memorial Hospital

Pioneer Memorial Hospital opened in 1950 through a fundraising drive by the community to expand hospital services in Crook County. Previously, hospital services had been provided in two different homes in the area. The first was Home Hospital located in Elkins House in 1934 and the second was known as The Cornett House, which opened in 1938. Through a lease agreement in 2008, Pioneer Memorial Hospital joined the St. Charles family. A community board governed the hospital's assets. Pioneer Memorial Hospital closed on Sept. 21, 2015 when St. Charles Prineville was opened.