Orange County’s Healthier Togetheris a community-wide initiative that aligns public and private resources within the public health system to improve health for all communities in Orange County. This initiative is led by the Health Improvement Partnership (HIP).
Our Vision
“Orange County is a community where everyone has opportunities and resources to be healthy and enjoy safety and optimal quality of life.”
Our History
Orange County’s Healthier Together began in late 2012 when Orange County Health Care Agency, Public Health Services formed the Orange County Community Health Planning Advisory Group in order to assess the county’s health and create a community-driven plan for a healthier Orange County. In May 2014, the group published its inaugural Orange County Health Improvement Plan after an 18-month assessment and planning process. In December 2014, the Advisory Group formalized its membership and became known as Orange County’s Healthier Together Health Improvement Partnership.
Good planning starts with good data. That’s why www.OCHealthierTogether.org features the OC Dashboard with more than 200 indicators related to health. The website, launched in 2014, is a place to share our progress and track outcomes related to the Orange County Health Improvement Plan. Today almost 40 organizations are represented on the Health Improvement Partnership and membership continues to grow. Join us as we continue our efforts to improve health for all in Orange County.
What We Do
The Health Improvement Partnership is charged with doing the following to fulfill our vision of a healthy Orange County and an optimal public health system:
1) Community Health Assessment: We support and steer the process for conducting a comprehensive community health assessment for Orange County.
2) Community Health Improvement Plan: We use findings from the community health assessment to update a community health improvement plan, including our priorities, goals, objectives, and strategies.
3) Coordination and Collaboration: We help to coordinate and collaborate with community partners on community health planning and improvement activities in Orange County.
4) Capacity Building: We act as a resource for using data and best practices in community health planning and improvement activities.
5) Leadership: We will provide leadership in addressing community health needs in Orange County.
(2020-2022 Planning Year)
Development of the new plan began in November, 2018, and continued throughout 2019 by following the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) framework to conduct a county-wide public health system assessment.
The 2019 Orange County public health system assessment included an online survey and an in-person discussion of the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to improve Orange County’s public health system. The HIP’s vision for Orange County’s public health system guided the assessment and discussions. The online survey was conducted during April 4-19, 2019 with 65 completed responses. The in-person assessment was conducted on May 2, 2019 and included participation by over 35 stakeholders representing Orange County Health Care Agency, social service providers, health care providers, universities, collaboratives, and others.
The final selection of priority health areas for the next 3 years took place July 17, 2019 with a day-long conference hosted by the Institute for Clinical and Translational Science on the UCI campus (photo). 65 Health Improvement Partnership members convened to hear about the current state of health in Orange County in the areas of Access to Care; Social Determinants of Health; Maternal, Fetal, and Infant Health and Family Planning; Chronic Diseases and Cancer; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Oral Health; Older Adult Health; Substance Use and Tobacco; Mental Health, Health Needs Assessment results by CalOptima’s, Kaiser Permanente, UCI Health, and results from Community Focus Groups conducted in June, 2019. Selection of health priorities were then accomplished through a consensus-building process (photo).
The final priority areas are presented in the table below, as are example ICTS-sponsored projects that address these priority areas.
