The Los Alamos County Health Council on Jan. 1 moved from planning toward implementation of the county's Comprehensive Health Plan after staff reported the plan was approved by County Council Dec. 17 and is now a finalized product. "We now have a finalized CHP product, which is super exciting," Social Services Manager Jessica Strong said during the meeting.

The council discussed short- and medium-term next steps needed to carry the plan into action, including identifying funding, staffing and specific deliverables required by the New Mexico Department of Health and the Alliance of Health Councils. "The next step would be the budget submittal and to put those additional FTEs and any funding you want," Strong said, describing how recommendations will move from plan to implementation.

Why it matters: The comprehensive plan contains measurable recommendations meant to change service delivery across Los Alamos County. Council members said implementing the recommendations will require coordinated action among Social Services, county leadership, the Department of Health and regional partners and may involve securing grant funding or county budget allocations.

Members highlighted several implementation priorities discussed in the Comprehensive Health Plan: stronger regional coordination with neighboring jurisdictions, enhanced outreach and prevention programs for older adults and youth, and better discharge and follow-up for behavioral-health patients. Jill De Haven, vice chair and a commercial real estate broker, urged a regional approach with Espanola to pool resources and broaden capacity: "We are too small to do it all individually," she said.

The council also took up the locally debated label for a proposed centralized service location. Several members objected to the label "social services hub" as unclear or narrowly focused. The group agreed to substitute "community health and social services center" in the work plan and asked staff to conduct a search-and-replace across the draft. "Could you just say community health and social services center?" one member asked during discussion; staff agreed to change the terminology and to bring a fuller recommendation to the February meeting.

Discussion about advancing the center included whether to create a formal subcommittee or an informal working group. County procedure requires that any board subcommittee follow public-notice rules and limits the number of board members on a working group; staff said they will research the options and return with a recommendation. The council directed staff to include the center discussion and the committee/working-group question on the February agenda.

Operational context: Council members and staff noted that some elements of implementation depend on external approvals and funding. Jessica Strong referenced recent procedural work (a county-required boards-and-commissions work-plan form) and said staff would attach the council's action items and align them with county strategic priorities before submission to the county manager's office.

What comes next: Staff will update the council's draft work plan per the meeting edits, replace the "hub" language with "community health and social services center," and prepare a proposal for how the council should organize any committee or working group to shepherd the center concept. The council will revisit the item at its February meeting.