Sunday, October 13, 2024
10/13/2024
Orange County Health Care Agency (HCA) is committed to ongoing transformation of the public health system to meet the ever-changing and multifaceted needs of our target populations. HCA is well-acquainted with our residents’ needs and challenges, providing unique insights to build a framework that can enable empowerment, revitalization, health equity, and opportunities to move the needle on various social determinants of health within Orange County. This funding will allow HCA to further mobilize community assets and engage those who have been economically or socially marginalized, medically underserved, racial, and ethnic minority groups, and those disproportionately affected by public health issues. HCA’s scope of responsibility includes Mental Health & Recovery, Public Health, Environmental Health, Correctional Health, County Employee Health, Emergency Management. Orange County’s population and demographic continue to grow and become more diverse. HCA’s ability to meet the needs of our residents will continue to include collaborations with the public-private multisector in the community focusing on the creation of a coordinated and equitable continuum of human and health services. As such, HCA’s project plan focuses on creating a data-driven, health equity focused workforce by training a healthy pool of talent with educational and training programs aligned with the current community needs. A primary activity will be to make an upstream investment in education to address workforce deficiencies across the public health system. HCA will create a learning collaborative aimed at improving the quality, quantity, distribution, and diversity of the public health workforce. Workforce capacity building will focus on addressing complex health needs in our vulnerable communities such as the racial/ethnic, transitional age youth, elderly, and LGBTQ+ communities. The plan will also ensure that the wealth of organizational public health knowledge is sustained after the funding period ends and that the development of expertise is aligned to support the implementation of the core public health functions for many more generations to come. HCA’s investments in key technologies, capabilities, and technical assistance through this funding will increase our effectiveness in building the skills and talent necessary to deliver public health services on a scale appropriate for the sixth largest county in the nation. HCA will use this funding to strengthen our overall systems, processes, and policies to ensure a strong core infrastructure to achieve a collective vision of community health for all. Efforts around building a robust data infrastructure will further strengthen HCA’s commitment in using data to inform programmatic and policy decisions, as well as eliminating health disparities and achieving health equity in Orange County. HCA’s communications enhancement initiative will support innovative messaging strategies to equip our community leaders with reliable data and feedback from target populations to inform strategic change, shape legislation and policies, and make data-driven decisions about public health prevention. An overarching principle of the project will be to strengthen existing and build new partnerships with community organizations, businesses, and academic institutions to align and maximize outreach strategies. HCA is committed to transforming the way community stakeholders work together in Orange County to develop shared solutions and ultimately build and sustain a robust core public health infrastructure. After the completion of this five-year plan, it is our hope that enduring, institutionalized changes will be achieved at HCA to create a robust, well-equipped public health workforce capable in making substantial changes across the complex set of public health, mental health, health equity, and social determinants of health issues.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
