Home > Media Center > News > > > Pathways Community HUB

News Releases

Back to all News Releases

March 24, 2017 (Cleveland)

Pathways Community HUB Model Examined as Tool to Strengthen Care Coordination

Communities across Ohio have been working to strengthen care coordination. Toward that goal, some communities in the Buckeye State have implemented the Pathways Community HUB model to strengthen care coordination for individuals at highest risk of poor health outcomes.

The Pathways Community HUB model has recently received increased attention given that it was identified as an evidence-based practice that can help address the three priority topics (mental health and addiction, chronic disease, and maternal and infant health) identified in the State Health Improvement Plan. To gain a deeper understanding of the model, The Center for Health Affairs convened a Pathways Community HUB meeting with interested stakeholders on March 22. 

At the HUB meeting, hospital participants and community partners heard presentations from representatives of each of the six HUBs that currently operate in Ohio:

• Jan Ruma, vice president of the Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio and director of the Northwest Ohio Pathways HUB
• Beth Hildreth, director of the Community Health Access Project
• David Ciccone, senior AVP of programs for the United Way of Central Ohio and David Reierson, senior director of the Care Coordination Network 
• Aimee Budnik, director of the Summit County Pathways HUB led by Akron Summit Community Action, Inc.
• Judith Warren, CEO of Health Care Access Now
• Michelle Edison, HUB director for the Mahoning County District Board of Health

Presenters shared their experience operating a Pathways Community HUB including the population that is currently served, if and how the HUB works with hospitals, how the HUB is staffed and funded, lessons learned and health outcomes that have been achieved. The Center is currently gauging Northeast Ohio stakeholder interest in pursuing the creation of a Pathways Community HUB model through conversations with key stakeholders and the use of an electronic survey. Please contact Kirstin Craciun, director of community outreach, at 216.255.3616 or via email with any questions about this project.