Partnership for a Healthy Community will be stronger thanks to its new affiliation with the Florida Public Health Institute, which conducts action-oriented research and promotes leadership to improve public well-being.
The institute will be an ally of Partnership for a Healthy Community, which is developing a plan for the best short-term strategies for dealing with health problems in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. Both organizations will continue to be free-standing agencies, but the affiliation will help Partnership, founded 1994 by Baptist Health Care
Corporation and Sacred Heart Health Systems.
“This will give us access to more resources,†said David Sjoberg, executive director of Partnership. “That includes access to Dr. Rodney King, the institute’s executive director. He’s a leader in the field of public health.â€
The institute, based in West Palm Beach, provides information and knowledge about health policy, conducts applied research and seeks ways to help local leaders build healthier communities.
A report last week by County Health Rankings & Roadmap showed that Escambia County was 57th of 67 counties in the State of Florida for healthiness; Santa Rosa County was No. 6.
It mirrored many of the findings of the Partnership’s comprehensive health status assessments for Escambia and Santa Rosa counties between 1995 and 2012. Major problem areas include tobacco use, weight management and improper use of emergency rooms, which are more expensive than other health-care facilities.
The Partnership has established a comprehensive website, Live Well Northwest Florida (www.livewellnwfl.org), which promotes healthy living and health education. It also has recruited businesses and institutions to become Live Well Partners and formed groups to work on top priorities – healthy weight, tobacco cessation and efficient use of healthcare facilities. The priorities were established last May at a gathering organized by Partnership; Dr. King was a speaker at that event.
The Partnership also was one of 12 groups nationwide chosen to receive the guidance of a “community coach†from the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program at the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
For more details, see www.pfahc.org.