The King County Accountable Community of Health (ACH) is gaining some national attention as a leader in improving health systems and the health of our communities. This week, the King County ACH was selected by ReThink Health to participate in a national cohort all working towards similar goals.

The cohort is designed to forge partnerships among the various health transformation efforts so that they may better synthesize evidence and share knowledge in their pursuit of better population health and healthcare, lower costs, and greater health equity.

By working with a coach from ReThink Health with deep expertise in multi-sector partnerships, and through tailored curriculum and collaborations with peers and experts, the King County ACH will have the opportunity to maintain momentum and expand opportunities, such as leveraging resources to move the health and health care system in profoundly new directions.

Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson and Rippel Foundations, ReThink Health Ventures will enable the King County ACH to connect with five partners from around the country:

• Sonoma, CA (Health Action Council)
• Trenton, NJ (Trenton Health Team)
• Rochester, NY (Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency, with others)
• Central Oregon (the Central Oregon Health Council with PacificSource Community Solutions)
• Bernalillo County, NM (Bernalillo County Community Health Council)

We are honored to be included among these other innovative communities and to receive such acknowledgement from ReThink Ventures:

 “King County, one of the nation’s fastest growing regions, is forward-thinking and ambitious and has often been a national model around population health, economic development, and addressing health inequities.”

The challenge

As ReThink Health Ventures notes,

“It’s no secret that America’s health system is failing us; and there is no mystery about the reasons why: the spiraling cost of care, piecemeal policies, systemic inequities, lack of sustainable financing, and long-neglected opportunities to improve health where we live, work, and play. What will it take to break from this entrenched and damaging cycle – to move from improving our current system to truly transforming it into the most favorable system for now and for the future? It’s going to require enormous ingenuity and a little bit of bravery.”

King County ACH focus

We are one of the nation’s fastest growing regions and in 2013, King County leadership committed to improving the health and well-being of all residents through its Health and Human Services Transformation Plan. The plan functions at both an individual and a community level with a particular focus on improving health equity.

Simultaneously, a cross-sector partnership that includes our local public health and human services departments has been establishing one of nine regional Accountable Communities of Health (ACH) that cover the entire state. The King County ACH aims to reshape the way health and social services are managed, by moving away from costly, crisis-oriented responses to health and social problems, and toward an emphasis on prevention and recovery, coupled with an unyielding commitment to greater racial equity. If you want to learn more about the King County ACH, check out this blog, What the Heck is an ACH.

Ventures will support the King County ACH in its multi-faceted efforts, building on a rich history of collaborative problem-solving. For more information, please contact kirsten.wysen@kingcounty.gov or Ingrid.Mcdonald@kingcounty.gov.