Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Montgomery County Board of Health reviews rising chronic disease, food insecurity and joint CHIP
Summary
County health officials told the council that Montgomery County has passed 1,080,000 residents and is seeing a return of chronic diseases as leading causes of death; staff outlined a joint Community Health Improvement Plan with hospitals and new food-security programs including a Food as Medicine pilot and an MC Groceries stipend.
Montgomery County health officials presented the Board of Health’s biannual update on June 30, telling the council the county’s population has surpassed 1,080,000 and that chronic illnesses — heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease — have again become the leading causes of death after the COVID-era declines.
The presentation emphasized demographic shifts (the 65-and-older cohort rose to 18%) and ZIP-code–level population changes. Health staff said food insecurity rose to about 12% in 2023 — above pre-pandemic baselines — and described programs aimed at addressing nutrition-related drivers of chronic disease. "We allow them to shop for foods that are specific to them and their culture as opposed to just giving them a standard box," a health official said of the Food as Medicine grant.
County and hospital partners outlined a joint Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) and steering structure intended to align strategies across sectors. Kimberly McBride, described in the presentation as regional vice president for community health and well-being at Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic/Holy Cross, said the joint CHIP represents a shift "from coordination to alignment to really true integration" and detailed governance and co-chairing between the health department and partner organizations.
Officials said action teams are already convening and a public dashboard to track progress is expected by October. They emphasized that the CHIP’s priorities — improving access to behavioral and specialty care, investing in upstream prevention, and addressing social determinants such as housing and transportation — will require coordinated county, hospital and community action. The county plans to report back with the shared dashboard and specific tracking indicators at the October update.
