Recorded presentation

Julie Nelson Ingoglia, MPH, National Association of County and City Health Officials, 1100 17th Street, NW, Second Floor, Washington, DC 20036, 202/783-5550 x 244, jnelson@naccho.org

Local public health agencies (LPHAs) are facing reduced resources and increasing demands for their time and energy. These demands have come in the form of new priorities and the need to shift staff time, as well as the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) call to expand capacity and build infrastructure. With reduced resources and the need to increase capacities to perform public health core functions, LPHAs are looking at opportunities for collaboration with the community. One obvious area of collaboration is around the provision of primary care services – an area that community health centers (CHCs) are poised to become the LPHA’s partner. Understanding this possibility for partnership, in 2003 the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) surveyed 298 LPHAs, whose jurisdiction covered a recently funded CHC, to learn about their relationships. Thirty-two percent of LPHAs responded to this survey, Collaborations between LPHAs and Federally Funded Health Centers, clarifying LPHAs involvement in obtaining funding for federally funded health centers. The survey results also address LPHAs continued involvement in direct clinical service delivery. This presentation will highlight the results of this survey, focusing on the ways in which LPHAs and CHCs create mutually beneficial public/private partnerships. These partnerships are not only optimizing resources, but in many cases they are expanding and ensuring access to care while increasing the LPHAs ability to focus on population-based services.

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