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• Anita Gore, Orville Thomas at (916) 440-7259
• Karin Caves at (916) 654-3780

SACRAMENTO – The California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) today announced 23 community-based health innovations that advance the Let’s Get Healthy California effort to make California the nation’s healthiest state by 2022. These innovations will be recognized and discussed as part of an Innovation Conference in Sacramento on January 26, 2016.

“We invited communities across the state to submit innovative ideas and projects that further the Triple Aim of better health, better care, and lower cost in California,” said CHHS Secretary Diana Dooley. “This is a great opportunity to recognize and learn from the work going on at a local level to meet the goals of our Let’s Get Healthy California initiative.”

“The Let’s Get Healthy California Innovation Challenge was designed to promote improvement in population health and care through new pathways,” said CDPH Director Dr. Karen Smith. “It encouraged the state and locals to collaborate, share ideas, and learn from one another to support new and creative ways to make California the healthiest state in the nation.”

CHHS and CDPH received nearly 100 submissions from community and health advocates, health care providers, community based organizations, civic and data enthusiasts, and many other individuals as part of this past summer’s Innovation Challenge. January’s conference will showcase and also measure California’s progress to meet the six goal areas of the Let’s Get Healthy California report.

In 2012, Governor Brown issued Executive Order B-19-12 to create the Let’s Get Healthy California Task Force with the goal of making California the healthiest state in the nation by 2022. The Let’s Get Healthy California initiative focuses on furthering the Triple Aim – better health, better care and lower costs – and promoting health equity. It consists of two strategic directions – Health Across the Lifespan and Pathways to Health—and six major goal areas – Healthy Beginnings, Living Well, End of Life, Redesigning the Health System, Creating Healthy Communities, and Lowering the Cost of Care. For more information on the Innovation Challenge and conference, visit the Let’s Get Healthy California webpage.

The 23 selected health innovations are listed below. For more information on each of the innovations, please visit CHHS’ Let’s Get Healthy California webpage.

Goal 1: Healthy Beginnings

• “Bright Beginnings”, Ventura County Public Health, Ventura County
• “Building Broccoli Smiles through Food Literacy”, Food Literacy Center, Sacramento, Sacramento County
• “Collaborative Partnerships and Environments for Early Childhood Health”, Healthy & Active Before 5 , Contra Costa County
• “Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait Community Program”, March of Dimes, Barstow, Victorville, Apple Valley, Hesperia, and Adelanto, San Bernardino County

Goal 2: Living Well

• “AARP Livability Index”, AARP  “Ending Hunger in Orange County”, Waste Not OC, Anaheim and Orange, Orange County
• “Growing Healthy Habits—A Community Garden Model”, Yolo County Health and Human Services Agency, Woodland, Yolo County
• “Skid Row Healthy Food Micro-Enterprise Project”, Los Angeles Community Action Network, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County
• “Street Vendors: Bringing Healthy Food to Central Valley Residents”, Cultiva La Salud—Public Health Institute, Southeast Fresno, Fresno County

Goal 3: End of Life

• “How to Make Advance Care Planning Easier”, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco County
• “Medical-Legal Partnership for Seniors”, University of California San Francisco/University of California Hastings Consortium on Law, Science & Health Policy, San Francisco, San Francisco County
• “UCLA Health/Coalition for Compassionate Care of California Advance Care Planning Initiative (ACPI)”, University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) Health and Coalition for Compassionate Care of California, Los Angeles County

Goal 4: Redesigning the Health System

• “Clinic in the Park: Connect, Screen, Educate”, Clinic in the Park: Connect, Screen, Educate, a fiscally sponsored project of OneOC, Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Irvine, Santa Ana and Tustin, Orange County
• “The MobileMAMA Text Program: Integrating Medical Care and Social Services for Pregnant Women in the Safety Net”, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program
• “Santa Rosa Community Health Centers Care Coordination Program”, Santa Rosa Community Health Centers (SRCHC), Santa Rosa, Sonoma County

Goal 5: Creating Healthy Communities

• “A Culture of Health: Creation of the Healthy RC Steering Committee”, City of Rancho Cucamonga, Healthy RC, Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino County
• “Active Design Guidelines and Icon”, Sacramento, Sacramento County
• “Live the Challenge”, Building Healthy Communities South Kern, Arvin, Lamont, Weedpatch, and Greenfield, Kern County
• “Walk With Friends”, Health Education Council, South Sacramento Valley Hi neighborhood, Sacramento County

Goal 6: Lowering the Cost of Care

• “Care Transitions”, Partnership HealthPlan of California, Northern California
• “Improving Healthcare Quality & Safety While Reducing Costs Through Clinical Pharmacy Service Integration”, University of Southern California School of Pharmacy and AltaMed Health Services, Los Angeles County and Orange County
• “Increasing Tdap Vaccination Among Pregnant Medi-Cal Women In Los Angeles County”, Los Angeles County Comprehensive Perinatal Services Program, San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles County
• “RxSafe Marin: Marin County Prescription Drug Misuse and Abuse Initiative”, Marin County Department of Health and Human Services, Marin County