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San Juan County moves from assessment to action with Community Health Network plan
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Summary
Public-health staff outlined a Community Health Network and Community Health Improvement Plan to address mental health, housing and access to care identified in the county’s 2023 CHA and 2025 youth assessment; partners and pilot projects (SIM) were cited, with staff recommending a project manager, data metrics, and stakeholder working groups.
San Juan County public-health leaders told the Board of Health on Sept. 17 they are moving from assessment to implementation by launching a Community Health Network and a Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) to address priorities identified by the county’s Community Health Assessment (CHA): mental health, housing and access to care.
Ellen (public-health presenter) described the CHA (2023) and a 2025 youth assessment that confirmed the same priorities and highlighted transportation and food access as important co-factors. "We have some rich information from our community, and I think we really have an ethical duty to do something with this and not just collect the data," she said.
The county plans a phased rollout that will form a small steering group, technical working groups and periodic full-network convenings. Presenters emphasized existing partnerships — PeaceHealth/Peace Island, Orcas Island Hospital District, Compass Health, resource centers and local foundations — and a seed-funded pilot that grew from a SIM project and a proviso from the Administrative Office of the Courts. Trillium and judicial partners described projects that improved cross-agency coordination, including shared release-of-information templates and pilot case-management work to reduce criminal-justice involvement for people with serious behavioral health problems.
Presenters and board members discussed funding uncertainty. The presentation referenced a proposed federal rural health pledge (referred to in the meeting as the "Big Beautiful Bill" and linked in remarks to HR 1) and a $50 billion national pledge; speakers emphasized the distribution and Washington-state allocation remain unclear and any award to the state would likely be divided among states. The county stressed the importance of readying a prioritized and collaborative plan should funding be awarded.
Board members raised engagement concerns and practical constraints. Councilmember Jane Fuller noted Lopez Island Hospital District is stretched while restructuring a clinic-operating partnership and asked the county to avoid overtaxing that board; county staff said they will be protective of hospital-district bandwidth and offer flexible roles for participation.
Presenters said a project manager to shepherd the network and a data/metrics system are essential to track progress and measure impact. The presenters also signaled startup funding is available but long-term sustainability will require blended funding from foundations, hospital districts and community partners.
Next steps identified at the meeting include a community-partner survey to refine priorities and membership, an initial convening of hospital districts and resource centers, and formation of technical working groups and advisory panels. The Board of Health was invited to participate in policy- or systems-level groups and to champion the initiative with partners and legislators.
The meeting adjourned at 1:10 p.m.; county staff will report back with survey results and a proposed steering-group membership for board review.
