New Strategic Plans for 3 Key Partners in Santa Cruz County

Central CA Alliance for Health, County Public Health Division and the County Administrative Office presented their strategic plans and processes. HIPC partners were encouraged to give feedback and consider opportunities for alignment with key partner focus areas and strategies.

Central California Alliance for Health

After more than 20 years leading the Central CA Alliance for Health (Alliance), Alan McKay retired on February 2018. The Alliance board appointed Stephanie Sonnenshine, former Alliance COO, as new CEO. Stephanie presented the Alliance’s newly published strategic plan for 2018-2020. Developed with the insight of internal and external focus groups, the 2018-2020 strategic plan “serves as the Alliance’s roadmap to improve member health outcomes, provide excellent core health plan services, and position the organization as a leader in the healthcare environment.” To accomplish this, the Alliance will engage in three priorities: Access to Care, Member Wellness, and Promotion of Value.

County of Santa Cruz Public Health Division

With the vision of “Better Health Every Day for Everyone,” Public Health Manager, Jessica Randolph, presented the County Public Health Division’s 2018-2023 strategic plan. This plan was developed as a next step to national accreditation, focusing on the improvement of public health infrastructure. Through collaboration of partner organizations, community stakeholder input and supported by data provided by a Community Health Assessment, the strategic plan focuses on 4 issue areas: Access to Health Care & Dental Care, Data & Technology, Public Awareness & Education, and Obesity & Diabetes Prevention.

Vision Santa Cruz County

Vision Santa Cruz County, spearheaded by Carlos Palacios, County Administrative Officer, is a strategic planning process to create a Santa Cruz County strategic plan. Nicole Coburn, Assistant CAO, provided an interactive presentation of the planning process underway. Vision Santa Cruz County is identifying key areas of importance for residents of the county, in part for establishing a two-year county budget cycle in the future. With input from over 200 County employees, and more than 200 community forum attendees and 2,000 online survey responders, the top issues

presented at March HIPC were: housing, transportation, health & safety, economy, and environment. Data collection continues for several more months to better inform the mission, vision, and values, ensuring they are “globally reflective” of the entire community.

The County had previously planned to hold community focus groups on draft goals to implement the long-term vision of the County. However, due to overwhelming demand, English- and Spanish-language surveys were created so residents can offer input on the draft goals, which are based on the input provided to the County by thousands of county residents, including HIPC participants at the March meeting.