Practice Title: Strategic Partnering: Developing a Unified Approach to Meet Community Needs
Department: El Paso County Public Health
Size: Large (Population of 500,000+ people)
State: Colorado
Summary of Practice:
Established In 1872, the El Paso County Public Health (EPCPH) serves the residents of El Paso County. Located in the central part of the state, it is the second most populous county. The 2020 population projections from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs have El Paso County’s population estimated at 735,176. Encompassing 2,158 square miles, El Paso County Public Health (EPCPH) serves all residents of El Paso County with 158 full-time equivalent employees.
The U.S., Colorado, and El Paso County are becoming more culturally diverse. At least two-thirds, 68.6% of El Paso County residents identify as either White or Non-Hispanic White, 17.7% identify as Hispanic or Latino and 6.9% identify as Black or African American. Population growth by age group indicates that adults ages 60 years and older and adults ages 20-29 are the two fastest growing age groups, each growing their population since 2012 by 17.3 percent and 16.7 percent respectively. Additionally, there is a significant military presence with five military installations including Ft. Carson, the Air Force Academy, Schriever and Peterson Air Force bases and Cheyenne Mountain Airforce Station. Data from 2015 – 2019 indicate there are 84,343 Veterans.
Developing a unified plan to address the changing, urgent needs of the community during the pandemic required a collaborative, and highly coordinated approach. This effort was unique given the necessity to share data across sectors, share critical information, and develop a structure to respond to an ever-changing environment. The vaccine policy consortium represents the diversity of the community and exemplifies the capacity of EPCPH to convene critical partners representative of local and federal entities
The vaccine policy consortium was led by EPCPH and consisted of multidisciplinary partners from local government, emergency management, healthcare system and partners, and high-level decision makers that commit resources, provide answers, and offer solutions. The overarching goals of the consortium was to broaden the reach of the COVID-19 vaccine into the community with sustainable and equitable efforts through a coordinated effort. To ensure a coordinated and collaborative approach of remaining committed to equitable access to vaccine across El Paso County, the vaccine consortium worked to develop a three-pronged approach to vaccine equity. This strategy was jointly developed by the consortium and distributed through a joint statement to all COVID-19 vaccine providers across El Paso County.
The group forum served as a robust information sharing, as well as exchange platform which was used to strengthen coordination and communication pertaining to the COVID-19 vaccine effort and to provide an opportunity to identify and address current and emerging needs among the entities represented. This group addressed several critical efforts head on such as developing a unified strategy to advocate for increased, sustainable, and predictable vaccine supply, while remaining poised to expand capacity to dispense vaccine equitably and seamlessly as supply became available.
Strategic Partnering: Developing a Unified Approach to Meet Community Needs
Category
Preparedness, Planning, Outcomes, and Measurement