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.--()--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, NH
Cheshire Medical Center
Monadnock Coalition for the Promotion of Breastfeeding
Monadnock Regional Transportation Management Association
Monadnock HEAL Coalition
Cheshire Coalition for Tobacco-free Communities
Advocates for Healthy Youth

Oklahoma City, OK
Oklahoma City County Health Department
City of Oklahoma City
INTEGRIS Health System
Oklahoma City Public Schools
Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma
Wellness Now

Summit County, OH
Summit County Public Health
City of Akron
The University of Akron
Kent State University
Northeast Ohio Medical University
Summa Health System
Akron Children's Hospital
Akron General Health System
AxessPointe Community Health Center
SummaCare

Williamson, WV
Williamson Health and Wellness Center, Inc.
Strong Through Our Plan Coalition
Mingo County Schools
Williamson Redevelopment Authority
West Virginia University Extension Service
Williamson Farmers Market, My Mobile Market

Pacesetters (20):

Algoma, WI
Live Algoma Coalition
Bellin Health
School District of Algoma
Precision Machine Inc.

Atlanta, GA
Atlanta Regional Collaborative for Health Improvement (ARCHI)
Georgia State University Research Foundation’s Georgia Health Policy Center
Atlanta Regional Commission
United Way of Greater Atlanta
St. Joseph’s Mercy Care
Kaiser Permanente
Grady Health System

Bernalillo County, NM
Bernalillo County Community Health Council
Presbyterian Healthcare Services
NM Department of Health/Health Promotion
Albuquerque Public Schools/Student, Family & Community Supports Division
UNM/HSC/Office of Community Health Initiatives/Pathways to a Healthy Bernalillo County
First Choice Community Healthcare

Boston, MA
Vital Village Network Boston Medical Center
Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School
Medical-Legal Partnership/Boston
Child Witness to Violence Project
Boston LISC
Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative

Cattaraugus County, NY
Cattaraugus County Health Department
Cattaraugus County Department of Aging
Healthy Community Alliance
Southern Tier Health Care System
Salamanca Youth Center
University Primary Care

Chicago, IL
Proviso-Leyden Council for Community Action
Loyola Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Proviso East High School
Triton College
Loyola University Hospital
Cook County Department of Public Health

Cleveland, OH
MetroHealth - Center for Reducing Health Disparities
Buckeye Shaker Square Development Corporation
East End Neighborhoods House
Fairhill Partners
Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority
Buckeye Ministries in Mission

Hennepin County, MN
Hennepin Health Foundation, Hennepin Healthcare System, Inc. d/b/a Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC)
Hennepin County Human Services and Public Health Department, Public Health Promotion
Northwest Hennepin Family Services Collaborative
North Sky Health Consulting
Brooklyn Park, Minnesota

Jackson, MI
Jackson Health Improvement Organization
Allegiance Health
Jackson County Health Department
Cradle to Career Education Network
Financial Stability Strand

Laramie County, WY
Laramie County Community Partnership, Inc.
HealthWorks
Cheyenne Regional Medical Center
United Way of Laramie County
Laramie County Community College

Los Angeles, CA
Downtown Women's Center
United Homeless Healthcare Partners
JWCH Institute
University of Southern California, School of Social Work
Los Angeles Central Providers Collaborative
L.A. Care Health Plan

Maricopa County, AZ
Maricopa County Department of Public Health
Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD)
Banner Health
Esperanca
City of Phoenix- FitPHX

North Colorado
North Colorado Health Alliance
Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment
Sunrise Community Health (FQHC)
United Way of Weld County
High Plains Library District

Pueblo, CO
Pueblo Triple Aim Corporation
Pueblo City County Health Department
Catholic Charities of Pueblo
Pueblo Community Health Center
Integrated Community Health Partners

Raleigh, NC
YMCA of the Triangle
Wake County Human Services
DHIC Affordable Housing
WakeMed Health and Hospitals
Wake County Public School System
Fertile Ground Food Coop

Salt Lake City, UT
Ethnic Community-based Organization for Refugees
Musungu HIV/AIDS Support Organization
Burundi Drummers
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Community Outreach Division)

San Francisco, CA
Saint Francis Foundation
Saint Francis Memorial Hospital
San Francisco Department of Public Health
San Francisco Mayor's Office of Economic and Workforce Development
University of California San Francisco
Boys and Girls Clubs of San Francisco

San Gabriel Valley, CA
City of Hope
Neighbors Acting Together Helping All (NATHA)
City of Duarte
Duarte Unified School District (DUSD)

Sitka, AK
Sitka Health Summit
Southeast Alaska Regional Hospital Consortium
Sitka Community Hospital
Braveheart Volunteers

Waterville, ME
Healthy Northern Kennebec
Kennebec Behavioral Health
Kennebec Valley Community Action Program
Waterville Main Street
Family Violence Project
City of Waterville

About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
For 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 Improvement
IHI 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.

Contacts

CXO Communication for IHI
Sandy George, 617-413-6126
sandy@cxocommunication.com
or
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Melissa Blair, 609-627-5937
media@rwjf.org

Release Summary

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement announces the 24 US community coalitions to join SCALE initiative, funded by a $4.8 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Contacts

CXO Communication for IHI
Sandy George, 617-413-6126
sandy@cxocommunication.com
or
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Melissa Blair, 609-627-5937
media@rwjf.org