News Releases

The Center Represents Hospitals at Health Policy Institute of Ohio Forum

The Center for Health Affairs’ Kirstin Craciun, director of community outreach, was among six panelists who shared their perspectives regarding how the state health assessment (SHA) will impact their work now and in the future during a forum held by the Health Policy Institute of Ohio on Dec. 8. The forum, “What’s on the Horizon for State Health Policy? Acting on Priorities from the State Health,” explored the three areas identified in Ohio’s 2016 SHA:

1. Chronic Disease

2. Maternal and Infant Health

3. Mental Health and Addiction

Craciun provided her thoughts on how hospitals at the local level are addressing the priorities identified in the SHA, identified SHA and State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) tools that can be helpful for hospitals conducting community health needs assessments and discussed lessons learned from her involvement in the development of the SHA and the SHIP.

“There is a lot of well-intentioned work happening at the local level, but often we don’t know which programs have a strong evidence-base supporting them,” explained Craciun. “The SHIP will be incredibly helpful for local partners looking for effective programs, particularly those that can increase health equity.”

The forum also featured Greg Moody, Director of the Governor’s Office of Health Transformation, who spoke about how priorities identified in the SHA will shape Ohio health policy. Moody was candid in letting providers know that “it’s going to be a tough budget.” In addition to Director Moody, a variety of speakers covered policy and system options to impact lifetime health, opportunities for expanding the behavioral health workforce, and options for connecting public health and primary care.

To learn more about the SHA and the SHIP, please visit the Health Policy Institute of Ohio’s SHA/SHIP webpage. For more information about The Center’s involvement in Northeast Ohio efforts to address priorities in the SHA, please contact Kirstin Craciun, MSW, MPP, director of community outreach, at 216.255.3616 or via email.