Case study of the integration of a local health department and a community health center.

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Public Health Rep
• Personal Author:
  Lambrew, J M ; Ricketts, T C ; Morrissey, J P
• Description:
  As rural communities struggle to sustain health services locally, innovative alternatives to traditional programs are being developed. A significant adaptation is the rural health network or alliance that links local health departments and community health centers. The authors describe how a rural local health department and community health center, the core organizations in publicly sponsored primary care, came to share a building and administrative and service activities. Both the details of this alliance and its development are examined. The case history reveals that circumstance and State involvement were the catalysts for service integration, more so than the need for or the benefits of the arrangement. The closure of a county-owned hospital created a situation in which State officials were able to broker a cooperative agreement between the two agencies. This case study suggests two hypotheses: that need for integrated services alone may not be sufficient to catalyze the development of primary care alliances and that strong policy support may override any local and internal resistance to integration.
• Subjects:
  Community Health Centers Health Facility Closure Hospitals, County Humans Interinstitutional Relations Organizational Affiliation Primary Health Care Public Health Administration Research Article Rural Health State Government

  More +
• Source:
  Public Health Rep. 108(1):19-29
• Pubmed ID:
  8434093
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMCnull
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  HA-R-000016-04/PHS HHS/United States
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina
• Volume:
  108
• Issue:
  1
• Collection(s):
  Public Health Reports
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:725299ed99287d389da39585790d54d73cae3ef2bdd299ff0d72b13888746e04
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/63842/cdc_63842_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.33 MB ]