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Board hears updates on regional health partnerships, Medicaid waiver and opioid settlement tracking
Summary
Board members received updates on the North Sound Accountable Communities of Health (ACH) search for a new CEO and pending Medicaid waiver 2.0, PeaceHealth's Community Collaboration Committee, Northwest Regional Council budgeting and a stand-by National Opioid Abatement Trust (NOAT) mechanism for potential settlement dollars.
Board members heard a series of committee updates touching on regional health partnerships, potential funding streams and ongoing interagency coordination.
North Sound ACH: Mark reported he serves on the board of the North Sound Accountable Communities of Health (ACH) — the five-county North Sound region includes Skagit, Snohomish, San Juan, Island and Whatcom counties — and said the ACH continues its search for a new CEO to replace the founding CEO, and that the status of a second Medicaid waiver (‘‘Medicaid waiver 2.0’’) remains uncertain. He described the waiver as a multi-year funding arrangement intended to pay in advance for outcomes that improve health and reduce healthcare costs; he said he has not seen confirmation that funds have been distributed for a proposed 5-year waiver.
Community Collaboration Committee (CCC) / PeaceHealth: A board member described the CCC as a coalition convened by PeaceHealth and including hospital and community partners to address community health needs. PeaceHealth brings community-health funds to support programs such as housing, food security, dental start-up funds and Latinx community health worker efforts. The board was asked whether a council member (Carrie) could be put forward to serve in an invited seat on the CCC; no objection was recorded.
Northwest Regional Council (NWRC): A board member who chairs the NWRC summarized the council’s priorities and fiscal health. She said the NWRC is tracking federal and state legislative issues, is advocating for $35,400,000 in nutrition funding to sustain services, and is watching the Older Americans Act reauthorization because it provides roughly 8% of the NWRC budget. She also noted NWRC added $1,000,000 to reserves but faced rising personnel and telecom costs.
NOAT / opioid settlement funds: The board heard that the National Opioid Abatement Trust (NOAT) was established to manage funds if large federal-level opioid settlements are finalized and that activity on potential settlement distributions has been limited recently; county staff said they will monitor the space and brief the board should settlement funds become available that would flow to counties.
Ending: Mark and other staff said they will continue to track the Medicaid waiver decision, regional council funding and any settlement processes that could affect county programs, and to brief the Board with updates and data when available.
