Recorded presentation

Leda, M. Perez, PhD, Director, Community Voices Miami, Collins Center for Public Policy, 150 SE 2nd Avenue, Suite 709, Miami, FL 33131, 305-377-4484, lperez@collinscenter.org

Good governance of both private and public bodies is a subject that is being studied in different arenas. The appropriate and accountable governance of public bodies devoted to health care planning is an important component that may lead to improved health care access for vulnerable populations. In thinking about these issues, one of the key recommendations made by Community Voices Miami was that the structure of the Public Health Trust, the governing board of the county’s sole public hospital Jackson Memorial, needed to change in order to be accountable and work for the entire county. Through the sustained efforts of this project and others, the Mayor of Miami-Dade convened a Health Care Access Task Force in 2002 to look at previous policy recommendations and to determine a course of action for the county. As a result of this process, a recommendation was made that there be established an Office of Health Care Planning, accountable directly to the Board of County Commissioners, that would plan and coordinate for improved health care access countywide.

This presentation will focus on the history of how this Office came to be. It will highlight the process of community collaboration and consensus-building that led county leaders to accept the proposition that the county’s public hospital could not continue to both govern itself and also be the de facto body that would conduct health care access planning and coordination. Finally, this presentation will outline some of the principles of good governance that were developed in this process.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to

• Discuss the process through which an independently-funded project Community Voices Miami helped to ensure the creation of an Office of Health Care Planning in Miami-Dade county.
• Articulate principles of good governance as developed through a multi-stakeholder process in Miami.
• Develop a plan for moving communities from public discourse to policy action on health care governance.

Keywords: Policy/Policy Development, Health Care Access

Related Web page: www.communityvoicesmiami.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation