IHI Announces Final Selection of Communities for Health-Focused Scale Initiative

24 community coalitions from across the US will be part of newly funded initiative to support and learn from each other while actively working to improve the health of their populations

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) today announced the 24 communities that will receive funding to accelerate and deepen efforts to improve the health of their populations. Made possible by a $4.8 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and led by IHI, the communities will engage in an ambitious initiative called SCALE, or Spreading Community Accelerators through Learning and Evaluation. Three partner organizations – Community Solutions, Communities Joined in Action, and the Collaborative Health Network – will join with IHI in assisting the 24 awardees with developing further skills and strategies to improve the health of their communities as well as the mechanisms to spread effective community-driven approaches across the country.

“The interviewing team was very impressed with all of the SCALE applicants, and pleased to see such great interest from so many US communities looking to accelerate their health improvement journey. It was very difficult to pare down from our 57 finalists to today’s 24 awardees,” stated Laura Brennan, MSW, Immediate Past Chair, Communities Joined in Action.

Soma Stout, MD, MS, IHI’s Executive External Lead for Health Improvement, added, “Now, we look forward to bringing the awardees together to deepen their ability to create effective improvement and to generously share what’s currently working in various locales. Communities don’t need to start from scratch to reduce homelessness, ease poverty, or fill neighborhoods with healthier food options. Effective interventions already exist that can be more widely adapted – and that process happens naturally when communities start to engage with one another. The awardees all have in common a readiness and eagerness to learn from each other.”

Over the next two years, SCALE will match the four announced today as “mentor communities” – those with a recent track record of achieving better health – with 20 now designated as “pacesetter communities” or seeking to accelerate their pace of change. Kicking off activity in May 2015, the communities will assess their current assets and skills; begin building or enhancing a set of community-health metrics; and attend a Community Health Improvement Academy that will strengthen everyone’s capabilities in leadership, change management, and improvement practices. Each community coalition will work on issues as diverse as increasing food access to reducing substance abuse to helping more people gain healthy literacy.

“We are so pleased with the level of interest in this initiative from communities working hard to improve health locally,” said Robin E. Mockenhaupt, PhD, Chief of Staff at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “We look forward to seeing the learning, sharing, and impact that results from the efforts of these participating communities.”

SCALE marks the first community-based program of the recently announced global initiative, 100 Million Healthier Lives, led by IHI and 140 founding partners. The initiative aims to achieve the audacious goal of 100 million people living healthier lives by 2020, and so far has nearly 500 members representing public health, community health, health care, patient advocacy, policy, academia, business, and financing. Improving equity and creating a culture of health is a fundamental tenet of 100 Million Healthier Lives, and a common thread that unites all the SCALE awardees.

Communities not selected for the SCALE initiative are being offered the opportunity to engage with 100 Million Healthier Lives and receive some special assistance on mastering improvement methods, peer-to-peer learning, and the best ways to identify “bright spots” or effective practices and strategies. The 100 Million Healthier Lives and SCALE partners pooled their resources to make this option possible.

The final SCALE awardees include:

Mentors (4):

Cheshire County, NHCheshire Medical CenterMonadnock Coalition for the Promotion of BreastfeedingMonadnock Regional Transportation Management AssociationMonadnock HEAL CoalitionCheshire Coalition for Tobacco-free CommunitiesAdvocates for Healthy Youth

Oklahoma City, OKOklahoma City County Health DepartmentCity of Oklahoma CityINTEGRIS Health SystemOklahoma City Public SchoolsRegional Food Bank of OklahomaWellness Now

Summit County, OHSummit County Public HealthCity of AkronThe University of AkronKent State UniversityNortheast Ohio Medical UniversitySumma Health SystemAkron Children's HospitalAkron General Health SystemAxessPointe Community Health CenterSummaCare

Williamson, WVWilliamson Health and Wellness Center, Inc.Strong Through Our Plan CoalitionMingo County SchoolsWilliamson Redevelopment AuthorityWest Virginia University Extension ServiceWilliamson Farmers Market, My Mobile Market

Pacesetters (20):

Algoma, WILive Algoma CoalitionBellin HealthSchool District of AlgomaPrecision Machine Inc.

Atlanta, GAAtlanta Regional Collaborative for Health Improvement (ARCHI)Georgia State University Research Foundation’s Georgia Health Policy CenterAtlanta Regional CommissionUnited Way of Greater AtlantaSt. Joseph’s Mercy CareKaiser PermanenteGrady Health System

Bernalillo County, NMBernalillo County Community Health CouncilPresbyterian Healthcare ServicesNM Department of Health/Health PromotionAlbuquerque Public Schools/Student, Family & Community Supports DivisionUNM/HSC/Office of Community Health Initiatives/Pathways to a Healthy Bernalillo CountyFirst Choice Community Healthcare

Boston, MAVital Village Network Boston Medical CenterOrchard Gardens K-8 Pilot SchoolMedical-Legal Partnership/BostonChild Witness to Violence ProjectBoston LISCDudley Street Neighborhood Initiative

Cattaraugus County, NYCattaraugus County Health DepartmentCattaraugus County Department of AgingHealthy Community AllianceSouthern Tier Health Care SystemSalamanca Youth CenterUniversity Primary Care

Chicago, ILProviso-Leyden Council for Community ActionLoyola Chicago Stritch School of MedicineProviso East High SchoolTriton CollegeLoyola University HospitalCook County Department of Public Health

Cleveland, OHMetroHealth - Center for Reducing Health DisparitiesBuckeye Shaker Square Development CorporationEast End Neighborhoods HouseFairhill PartnersCleveland Metropolitan Housing AuthorityBuckeye Ministries in Mission

Hennepin County, MNHennepin Health Foundation, Hennepin Healthcare System, Inc. d/b/a Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC)Hennepin County Human Services and Public Health Department, Public Health PromotionNorthwest Hennepin Family Services CollaborativeNorth Sky Health ConsultingBrooklyn Park, Minnesota

Jackson, MIJackson Health Improvement OrganizationAllegiance HealthJackson County Health DepartmentCradle to Career Education NetworkFinancial Stability Strand

Laramie County, WYLaramie County Community Partnership, Inc.HealthWorksCheyenne Regional Medical CenterUnited Way of Laramie CountyLaramie County Community College

Los Angeles, CADowntown Women's CenterUnited Homeless Healthcare PartnersJWCH InstituteUniversity of Southern California, School of Social WorkLos Angeles Central Providers CollaborativeL.A. Care Health Plan

Maricopa County, AZMaricopa County Department of Public HealthMaricopa County Community College District (MCCCD)Banner HealthEsperancaCity of Phoenix- FitPHX

North ColoradoNorth Colorado Health AllianceWeld County Department of Public Health and EnvironmentSunrise Community Health (FQHC)United Way of Weld CountyHigh Plains Library District

Pueblo, COPueblo Triple Aim CorporationPueblo City County Health DepartmentCatholic Charities of PuebloPueblo Community Health CenterIntegrated Community Health Partners

Raleigh, NCYMCA of the TriangleWake County Human ServicesDHIC Affordable HousingWakeMed Health and HospitalsWake County Public School SystemFertile Ground Food Coop

Salt Lake City, UTEthnic Community-based Organization for RefugeesMusungu HIV/AIDS Support OrganizationBurundi DrummersThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Community Outreach Division)

San Francisco, CASaint Francis FoundationSaint Francis Memorial HospitalSan Francisco Department of Public HealthSan Francisco Mayor's Office of Economic and Workforce DevelopmentUniversity of California San FranciscoBoys and Girls Clubs of San Francisco

San Gabriel Valley, CACity of HopeNeighbors Acting Together Helping All (NATHA)City of DuarteDuarte Unified School District (DUSD)

Sitka, AKSitka Health SummitSoutheast Alaska Regional Hospital ConsortiumSitka Community HospitalBraveheart Volunteers

Waterville, MEHealthy Northern KennebecKennebec Behavioral HealthKennebec Valley Community Action ProgramWaterville Main StreetFamily Violence ProjectCity of Waterville

About the Robert Wood Johnson FoundationFor more than 40 years the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has worked to improve health and health care. We are striving to build a national Culture of Health that will enable all to live longer, healthier lives now and for generations to come. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or on Facebook at www.rwjf.org/facebook.

About the Partners

Community Solutions is a registered 501(c)(3) organization that helps communities solve the complex problems facing their most vulnerable, hard hit members. We work from eight locations to assist communities throughout the United States and internationally. http://cmtysolutions.org/

Communities Joined in Action (CJA) is a private, non-profit membership organization of nearly 200 community health collaboratives – each of our members being committed to improving health, improving access, and eliminating disparities in their communities. Our mission is to mobilize and assist these community health collaboratives to assure better health for all people at less cost. http://cjaonline.net

Collaborative Health Network is a vibrant network that connects diverse stakeholders and trusted groups who are working to improve community health and healthcare, especially those taking a multi-sector, collaborative approach. Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and led by the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI), the Collaborative Health Network is designed to accelerate the adoption of what is working locally, and to identify the next generation of challenges. http://www.nrhi.org/collaborative-health-network

About The Institute for Healthcare ImprovementIHI is a leading innovator in health and health care improvement worldwide. For more than 25 years, we have partnered with visionaries, leaders, and front-line practitioners around the globe to spark bold, inventive ways to improve the health of individuals and populations. Recognized as an innovator, convener, trustworthy partner, and driver of results, we are the first place to turn for expertise, help, and encouragement for anyone, anywhere who wants to change health and health care profoundly for the better. To advance our mission, IHI’s work is focused in five key areas: Improvement Capability; Person- and Family-Centered Care; Patient Safety; Quality, Cost, and Value; and Triple Aim for Populations. Learn more at ihi.org.

CXO Communication for IHI
Sandy George, 617-413-6126
[email protected]
or
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Melissa Blair, 609-627-5937
[email protected]

Source: Institute for Healthcare Improvement

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