DEPARTMENT: Health
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Colleen M. Bridger, MPH, PhD
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City Wide
SUBJECT:
Briefing on The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District’s Strategic Plan for CY 2017-2019
SUMMARY:
The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District will provide a presentation on its Strategic Plan for CY 2017-2019.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District (Metro Health) team has worked over the last several months to develop a new three year strategic plan. Utilizing information obtained through the 2016 Bexar County Community Health Needs Assessment, SA Tomorrow planning process and feedback taken through staff and stakeholder surveys, Metro Health identified six priority areas: 1) Chronic Disease Prevention; 2) Communicable Disease; 3) Environmental Health and Safety; 4) Maternal, Child and Teen Health; 5) Oral Health and 6) Organizational Infrastructure.
Staff workgroups were formed around these areas to analyze the most current data. Through this process, staff identified 14 health indicators and three internal performance measures that are critical for Metro Health to address over the next three years. In early April, a final vetting process further streamlined these indicators resulting in a total of four prioritized health indicators that will guide Metro Health’s work over the next several years. These indicators include:
1) Obesity
2) Type 2 Diabetes
3) Ozone levels; and
4) Immunizations for vaccine preventable diseases in children
An additional focus will be on building internal capacity to monitor and track program performance data and incorporate agency wide quality improvement efforts to drive staff innovation and excellence in support of the plan.
While Metro Health’s full strategic plan encompasses a broad range of Metro Health’s work, including traditional public health services such as communicable disease prevention and health inspections, the prioritized health indicators reflect the highest-priority issues for Metro Health’s work in the community over the next three years. Increased performance measurement, accountability, and alignment of resources will ensure Metro Health staff is functioning at their highest level while ensuring cross-sector collaboration, both internally as well as through external partnerships. A menu of key strategies and corresponding action plans has been developed for FY 2017 to assist staff with putting the plan into action.
Opportunities to further expand innovative programs working to address the social determinants of health in our neighborhoods and schools will continue to be a key strategy for reaching our long-term vision of improving health equity by reducing health disparities amongst Bexar County’s most vulnerable populations.
ISSUE:
Metro Health would like the opportunity to update the Neighborhood’s and Livability Committee on the department’s recently completed strategic plan. This plan will help guide the work of Metro Health over the next three years as we continue to implement strategies and develop solutions to address San Antonio’s most pressing public health issues as identified through the most recent community health needs assessment.
ALTERNATIVES:
This item is for briefing purposes only.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this item. This memo is for briefing purposes only.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the Neighborhoods and Livability Committee forward this item for a full City Council B session presentation in May.