Collaboration and Service Improvement:

• Expand access to free healthcare services with the new Good Neighbor Health Clinic in Lebanon, NH. 

• Increase workforce development opportunities for early career Dental Assistants with training programs at HACTC and preceptorships with local dental practices.

• Facilitate a process to improve navigation of health insurance options, social service programs, and other resources available to people in need to identify and close gaps. Implement or create a tool to increase access to information and increase coordination among providers. 

• To increase the connection of individuals aged 50+ to needed resources in the region. 

Education:

• Engage Town Welfare Officers in discussion around the importance of addressing health care costs and referral for support during bi-annual meetings facilitated by the PHC.

Advocacy: 

• Host Bi-State Legislative Breakfast every two years to engage state policymakers in discussion of local health priorities.

• Promote the value of Community Paramedicine Programs and advocate for insurance reimbursement for these community-based services. 

• Promote alternative approaches to fund health and dental care for un- and under-insured people. 

Equity:

• Offer free flu vaccine clinics and COVID-19 vaccine clinics in community settings to reduce barriers to receiving vaccines. 

• Offer free dental services in school-based dental clinics. 

• Conduct a systematic review of health care and behavioral healthcare access in the Upper Valley from the perspective of traditionally marginalized groups and their overall well-being. 

• Increase capacity of grassroots and small organizations representing people with lived experience of health inequities to address the concerns of their communities independently through grantmaking and technical assistance.

Patients who enter the hospital through the Emergency Department often face long wait times and overcrowding, which leads to worsened patient outcomes. Ensuring access to primary care physicians, especially for patients with conditions like diabetes and hypertension, allows patients to seek treatment before their condition escalates in severity to require emergency treatment. Appropriately managing diabetes can lead to a life expectancy increase of 3-10 years for the average individual with type 2 diabetes. Preventative care measures also reduce Emergency Department overcrowding, allowing individuals with life-threatening injuries and medical conditions to have faster access to quality care.

• Good Neighbor Health Clinic (GNHC)
• Dartmouth Hitchcock (DH)
• Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital (APD)
• Hartford Area Career and Technology Center (HACTC)
• Public Health Council (PHC)
• Service Link
• Area Council on Aging Partners
• Upper Valley Service Coordinators Roundtable
• Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center (MAHHC)
• Red Logan Dental Clinic (RLDC)
• Upper Valley Regional Public Health Network (UVRPHN)
• Vermont Department of Health/ White River Junction District Office (VDH/WRJ)
• HealthHub
• Upper Valley Community Health Equity Partnership (UVCHEP) Steering Committee

Data Overview: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health's Mapping Medicare Disparities (MMD) Tool tracks hospital admissions of Medicare patients for 14 different preventable conditions including uncontrolled diabetes, lower-extremity amputation among patients with diabetes, hypertension, and dehydration.

Data Limitations: 86.2% of Medicare beneficiaries are aged 65 or older, thus, the preventable hospital stays metric is skewed towards older members of the population.