Summit County health department plans two-day CHIP workgroup retreat with external moderator

Health department staff told the Board of Health they are organizing a two-day Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) workgroup session with an independent professional moderator to accelerate planning and community input.

Staff said the internal CHIP workgroup includes Kendra, Nancy (the epidemiologist) and other department staff. The health department secured Erin Lacombe (noted as the moderator who previously facilitated large processes) to lead two days of stakeholder work; staff said Erin moderated a large process for San Bernardino County and will run the Summit County session.

Organizers said they had invited about 50 stakeholders and expected roughly 25–30 to attend. The participant list staff described included health department staff, Board of Health members, local MDs, the sheriff's office, the fire department, the Great Salt Lake People's Health Clinic, the chamber of commerce, and other community partners. The session will use breakout groups, movement and facilitated activities to keep momentum and will include a short pre-meeting video explaining CHIP basics so the in-person time can focus on planning.

Staff told the board they were still finalizing logistics, including a larger venue to accommodate roughly 30 people comfortably, and said the session would be publicly noticed as a meeting where decisions are made; they said they would not widely advertise it as a community festival, but that members of the public could be accommodated and incorporated into the process as appropriate.

Ending: Staff said they will distribute logistics and a preparatory packet by the end of the week or early next week and asked board members to prioritize attending if possible.