Title
A RESOLUTION supporting ongoing collaboration to assess the health needs and assets of King County communities and the development of strategies to improve community health.
Body
WHEREAS, King County is home to many of the country's preeminent hospital systems that in addition to providing safe and high quality care have a long history of addressing our community's health through community benefit programs, and
WHEREAS, community benefits are programs or activities that promote health and healing as a response to identified community needs. Examples of community benefits include charity or unreimbursed medical care, community health education, training and continuing medical education for community physicians, medical research, disease and violence prevention programs and community-building activities that promote health such as physical and environmental improvements, workforce development and coalition building, and
WHEREAS, the Affordable Care Act established guidelines for the process by which hospitals should assess the health needs of their communities to inform their community benefit activities, and
WHEREAS, twelve hospital systems in King County came together with each other, the Washington State Hospital Association and Public Health - Seattle & King County in 2011 to form a collaborative partnership called King County Hospitals for a Healthier Community, and
WHEREAS, King County Hospitals for a Healthier Community recognizes that by working together the partners can better leverage expertise and resources to address the most critical health needs in our county and avoid duplication, and
WHEREAS, under the Affordable Care Act, nonprofit hospitals are expected to complete a community health needs assessment every three years and use the results to inform implementation strategies to meet identified community health needs, and
WHEREAS, as one of the first collaborations of King County Hospitals for a Healthier Community, the partne...

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