Drafter
Clerk 04/09/2014
Title
A RESOLUTION encouraging the exploration of a voluntary regional collaborative for the purpose of improving the health and well-being of King County residents.
Body
WHEREAS, the King County region faces significant and disturbing inequities in the health and well-being of its residents, and
WHEREAS, those inequities impede the ability of individuals to reach their full potential and also threaten the future prosperity of the region overall, and
WHEREAS, eliminating inequities requires addressing the social, economic and physical conditions of communities and neighborhoods because health is most affected by where people live, learn, work and play, and
WHEREAS, there is growing recognition that partnerships between the health sector and other sectors such as early childhood, employment, housing, human services, education and community development hold the potential to generate new opportunities to improve health, and
WHEREAS, in 2013 King County worked with community partners to inform a Health and Human Services Transformation Plan that calls for improving health and well-being by shifting from a sick-care, crisis-oriented system to one that emphasizes prevention and supports recovery, and
WHEREAS, in 2014 a voluntary, cross-sector group of community representatives known as the Advising Partners Group agreed to come together to strategize on the most effective ways for the Transformation Plan to meet its goal, and
WHEREAS, Washington state recently developed and issued a State Health Care Innovation Plan, which promotes a phased movement toward a whole-person approach to care that integrates physical health, mental health, substance abuse services and social services, and
WHEREAS, the State Health Care Innovation Plan recognizes that place matters when it comes to the health of the population, that local communities can bring about changes to improve health and that support is needed for voluntary regional collaboratives to improve health and lower costs, and
WHEREAS, in 2014 the Washington state Legislature passed Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 2572 to enable implementation of the Innvoation Plan and the Governor approved it April 4, 2014, and
WHEREAS, Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 2572 calls upon the Health Care Authority to pilot two voluntary regional collaboratives known as Communities of Health, whose purpose is to align actions to achieve healthy communities and populations, improve health care quality and lower costs, and
WHEREAS, Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 2572 indicates that entities seeking designation as Communities of Health should be nonprofits or public-private partnerships including those led by local public health agencies, and
WHEREAS, Public Health-Seattle & King County is charged with protecting and improving the health and well-being of all people in King County and is committed to reducing health and social inequities;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Health of King County:
A. The Board of Health encourages Public Health-Seattle & King County to collaborate with the King County department of community and human services, Washington state and community stakeholders to explore the development of a Community of Health for the King County region.
B. The Board of Health encourages building upon voluntary structures and
public-private collaborations already in place or in formation that bring together different fields that are working to improve the health and well-being of county residents.