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Celebrate Our Successes

REACHing Out in Greater Richmond, Virginia

From Richmond, Virginia comes news from CJA member, Denise Daly Konrad of exciting progress that Reach has accomplished this year and of their pivotal Steering Committee meeting which was held in May 2007.

REACH, a Federal Healthy Communities Access Program (HCAP) legacy, evolved from a loose coalition of safety net providers in 2000 into a nimble non-profit, which is leading the development of a comprehensive, long-range plan to improve access to care and strengthen the health safety net in greater Richmond, Virginia.

Nearly 130,000 Richmonders do not have health insurance. More than a dozen community-based Richmond-area organizations, local health departments and area health systems offer low-cost or free health services to persons without health insurance. Since its inception in 2000, REACH and its partners have had successes in the areas of coordinated pharmacy activities, SCHIP outreach and enrollment, advocacy for the uninsured and health safety net providers and the development of a perinatal care program for low-income, non-Medicaid eligible women.

The REACH Board of Directors completed a year-long strategic planning process in the Spring of 2006. The Board agreed the development of a coordinated health safety net model was the logical next step for REACH.

With leadership from Chris Carney, former CEO of Bon Secours Health System, REACH prepared a case statement for a Community Health Services Plan (CHSP) development process. The region’s three health systems, Bon Secours Richmond Health System, HCA Hospitals of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Health System, agreed to fund the year-long planning process, and each appointed a senior vice-president to serve on the CHSP Steering Committee. In addition to health system representatives, the CHSP Steering Committee includes more than 20 local health experts (see attached).

CHSP Steering Committee members and REACH staff are committed to a focused, outcome-oriented process, running January 2007 – October 2007. Greater Richmond is fortunate that consensus exists regarding the need for a better regional health safety net model and that communities with similar demographics have implemented models that have improved access to care and strengthened their health safety net. Since January 2007, the CHSP Steering Committee (CHSP Steering Committee) has been hard at work reviewing data and studying national models to craft a sustainable, cost-effective community solution to measurably improve care for uninsured and underinsured persons living in greater Richmond.

At the May 2007 Steering Committee meeting, REACH staff will share 9 national models for the Committee to consider, including several outlined in Kristin West’s portfolio of 8 critical activities tied to best practices demonstrating outcomes (www.cjaonline.net/events/ORWA/FrameworkSlideKWest.ppt). Throughout the summer, staff and Steering Committee members will further research national models appropriate for greater Richmond and develop a business plan to support the resulting Community Health Service Plan.

It is clear the Community Health Services Plan will be a regional health network for uninsured residents with a focus on primary care (to include mental health); streamlined access to specialty, diagnostic and other services; documented returns on investment across all safety net providers; and, the infrastructure and financing to deliver a broad scope of services.

REACH is grateful for the support and generosity of our CJA colleague communities in action who have contributed great ideas and resources that have made a tremendous difference in our work.

For more information, go to www.reachva.org, contact Denise Daly Konrad (ddkonrad@vcu.edu) or call 804.827.3224.