Foundation For Healthy Communities

Programs: The foundation for healthy communities is renowned on a state and national level for its ability to engage diverse partners in new, innovative collaborations and to serve as the backbone support for a variety of initiatives that address the health and healthcare needs of our state. The organization's programs focus on quality improvement initiatives, health promotion, and access to affordable health care, as well as patient and family engagement strategies, health equity and health disparities of care, behavioral health and substance use disorders and many more. Founded in 1968 as an education and research organization for the new hampshire hospital association (nhha), the foundation was reorganized in 1995 to meet the needs of a changing healthcare system. The foundation for healthy communities is led by a board of directors with a broad range of expertise which guides its strategic and programmatic efforts. Today, the foundation is a partnership between new hampshire hospitals, health plans, home care agencies, community organization and other healthcare stakeholders focusing on quality of care, access to health services, and prevention as the major priorities of work, aligning with the foundation's mission of improving total population health for all communities. In its work with partners statewide, the foundation's key objectives are to improve total population health by promoting innovative, high value quality practices within organizations and communities; to lead change strategies that educate, create and sustain healthier communities and make the healthy choice the easy choice; and to promote access to affordable health care and resources that support the well-being of all people. One of the foundation's strengths is to engage and lead diverse partners in new forms of collaboration, and facilitates program integration for the benefit of the communities served by housing its diverse group of programs and staff in one location, streamlining processes, and opening pathways for collaborations. To promote a healthier state, the foundation's initiatives focus on health prevention and education, access to affordable health care as well as insurance coverage, patient safety and quality improvement initiatives, patient and family engagement strategies, health equity and health disparities of care, emergency preparedness and response, behavioral health and the opioid crisis, among many other areas of priority. Descriptions of the programs currently running under the foundation for healthy communities below:community benefitshospitals support their communities by delivering high quality healthcare, serving as economic engines, and providing health education, resources and programs to keep their communities healthy. To do this successfully, hospitals work collaboratively with a variety of partners to assess the health of their community, identify the most pressing health needs, and develop community benefit implementation plans to address those needs. The foundation for healthy communities creates a statewide summary of the community benefit activities conducted by new hampshire hospitals through their uncompensated care, health education and community programs and services. Granite state health care coalitionthe granite state health care coalition is a network of key representatives from public and private health and safety organizations that help communities prepare, respond, and recover from catastrophic events and disasters impacting new hampshire. The coalition provides the opportunity for providers, healthcare and community stakeholders to plan, prepare and train for catastrophic events through collaboration essential to integrated disaster response. Healthcare decisions coalitionthe healthcare decisions coalition is a volunteer steering committee composed of experts and stakeholders in the legal and health care sectors that aims to provide the tools available for individuals to express wishes and preferences with regard to end of life medical care, and to have those preferences honored by the health care system. Nh comprehensive cancer collaborationthe nh comprehensive cancer collaboration is a partnership of individuals and organizations working together to eliminate cancer, the leading cause of death in the state, through the implementation of the nh cancer control plan. Nh health care quality assurance commissionthe nh health care quality assurance commission enables health care providers to share information about adverse outcomes and prevention strategies in learning environments which foster candor and self-critical analysis while maintaining the confidentiality of the information submitted to the commission, the proceedings of the commission, and the results of the commission's deliberations. Nh health & equity partnershipnh health & equity partnership strives to increase the success and effectiveness of public and private initiatives that work to promote health and equity for racial, ethnic, and linguistic minorities, and address the determinants of health through the collaboration of partners, leaders, and stakeholders committed to action within new hampshire. Nh partnership for patientsthe nh partnership for patients is a national initiative under which every 26 acute care hospital in new hampshire engages in initiatives that improve patient safety and quality of care throughout the care continuum. Patient & family engagementthe patient & family engagement initiative offers tools and resources to hospitals and community organizations that help them create a culture of patient and family engagement and establish collaborative partnerships between hospital staff, patient and family advisors to enhance the delivery of patient and family-centered care throughout the continuum. Rural health quality improvement network the rural health quality improvement network coordinates resources promoting efficiency and high value quality practices in the network of critical access hospitals serving rural new hampshire. The opioid use disorder projectthe opioid use disorder project supports new hampshire hospitals rising to the challenge of expanding access to treatment for people with opioid use disorders (oud) by implementing emergency department bridge to treatment programs and medication assisted treatment programs in primary care practices.