Primary Care

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The primary responsibility of the local health department (LHD) is not necessarily to deliver primary care services, but to ensure that the health needs of the community are being met. LHDs, through different approaches to their assurance function, contribute directly or indirectly to the delivery of primary care services to the populations they serve. More »

Activities Include

»	Collaboration Resources
	In addition to NACCHO's profiles of collaborative efforts between LHDs and CHCs, we have also compiled a list of existing resources to strengthen and evaluate collaborative efforts. More »

»	Making Strategic Decisions about Service Delivery/Partnerships Project
	The changing public health environment has led LHDs to transition services and refocus resources to population-based services. More »

»	Partnerships for Health Care: Local Health Department and Community Health Center Collaboration
	Developing Quality Applications for Community Health Center Funding Issue Brief This audio conference series provides technical assistance to LHDs interested in working with community health centers (CHCs). Speakers are from the Bureau of Primary Health Care (Health Resources and Services Administration), LHDs throughout the U.S., the National Association of Community Health Centers, and state primary care associations. More »

»	LHD and CHC Workforce Collaborations
	Local health departments (LHDs) and health centers (HCs) are integral players in increasing access to care for the un- and under-insured. Key to their success in increasing access to care is the employment and retention of qualified workers. At both LHDs and HCs, employees are involved in providing clinical care, office support, community outreach and programming. LHDs and HCs both focus on some similar issues, including oral health, mental health, access to care and emergency preparedness, and share similar missions of assuring access to care for vulnerable and special populations. The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), in cooperation with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC), is working to assist LHDs in their role of assurance of primary care and other clinical services. Assurance of primary care or other clinical services may include directly providing primary care or other clinical services or working with other providers, including HCs, to assure these services. In Spring 2008, NACCHO awarded $10,000 each to two LHDs to: 1) engage with their local HC(s) to recruit and retain qualified personnel which will benefit the operations of both entities; and 2) share strategies and lessons learned with NACCHO and other LHDs. Alameda County (CA) Public Health Department's experience is shared here. More »

Community Health Centers and Local Health Departments: Emergency Preparedness Activities

In November 2007, in partnership with the New York Consortium for Emergency Preparedness Continuing Education (NYCEPCE) the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita (KUSM-W) implemented an eight item survey of 84 health workers from community health centers and local health departments (LHDs) within New York and Kansas. The goal of the survey was to assess the degree of emergency preparedness collaboration occurring between community health centers, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and Look-Alikes (hereafter, the term community health center or CHC will be utilized) and LHDs as well as satisfaction with the experience. Upon analysis of the results of this preliminary study, the original survey instrument was modified for use in a wider study of community health center (CHC) and LHD workers throughout the United States. Additionally, a qualitative element was incorporated into the research to help further widen the scope of the study. NACCHO assisted with providing background information on collaborations and contact data for LHDs.

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