Orion Falvey, co-founder Orchid Health

The Health Design Podcast

After growing up in rural Southeast Alaska, Orion studied business and social entrepreneurship at the University of Oregon where he received the Oregon Student Impact Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2013. While finishing school, Orion co-founded Orchid Health with the vision of creating a new model of primary care that better serves both healthcare professionals and patients alike. Over the past eight years, Orion has served as the visionary behind growing Orchid from 1 rural health clinic in Oakridge, Oregon, to a network of four integrated rural health and school-based clinics in some of Oregon’s most under-resourced communities. Early in his journey, it became clear that in order to best serve their communities, it was imperative that Orchid first redesign the healthcare workplace focusing on creating a healthy environment for team members. This resulted in Orchid shifting its primary focus from patient experience and population health to employee wellbeing and joy in work. The Orchid relationship-based care model has achieved success across the quadruple aim including being recognized as one of Oregon’s top places to work in 2021, averaging a 9.5 out of 10 when asking patients “would you recommend Orchid to family and friends”, achieving a 40% reduction in Medicaid ED utilization over a three year period at its first rural health clinic, and proving that it is possible for a relationship-based model of care where primary care providers see between 10 and 15 patients/day to be financially sustainable. Orion was named the 2020 Rural Health Hero by the Oregon Office of Rural Health and continues to be a vocal proponent for the need for a significant paradigm shift to occur in how healthcare organizations are structured and run to become more people-positive and complexity conscious. Orion lives in Portland with his partner and dog, loves going on van camping trips, and traveling back home to Southeast Alaska where he grew up.