Boards talk health priorities Sept. 29

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Jefferson Healthcare (JHC) holds a joint board meeting Thursday to present the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP), an innovative collaboration between JHC and Jefferson County Public Health to identify and address the most critical health priorities in the county.

The joint meeting with the hospital commission and the county board of health is 2-4 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 29 at the Cotton Building, 607 Water St. Both boards are to be asked to adopt the plan and to kick off implementation activities.

“This is the culmination of years of work from a broad group of stakeholders, including people from health care, public health, community development organizations and community members,” said Jefferson Healthcare CEO Mike Glenn in a press release. “Now that we have a plan, Jefferson Healthcare is committed to working with the community to see these goals realized.”

The CHIP has been an ongoing initiative since 2013 to identify the most critical health priorities in Jefferson County and to develop a plan to address them.

The four health issues that were prioritized in 2014 were mental health and chemical dependency, access to care, immunizations and chronic disease prevention.

Over the past year and a half, subgroups focusing on these four priorities met regularly to determine the health goals and how best to reach them.

Community groups have been asked to take ownership of the strategies identified for improving health.

Jefferson Healthcare, Jefferson County Public Health, Discovery Behavioral Healthcare and the Olympic Area Agency on Aging have all taken on several strategies and are to be working with the community moving forward.

Other partners in the CHIP project include Jefferson County and the City of Port Townsend.