Oct/Nov Newsletter: Battling uninsurance, the Washtenaw Opioid Summit, and more.

The September 2019 WHI Stakeholders Meeting focused on Michigan health policy and the unified community health needs assessment conducted by Washtenaw County’s non-profit hospitals. Speakers included Marianne Udow-Phillips, founding executive director of CHRT, Nicole Adelman, clinical and SUD services director at the Community Mental Health Partnership of Southeast Michigan, and Elisabeth Vanderpool, director of community health at St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor.

The UNITE Group–including representatives from Michigan Medicine, St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor, St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea, and the University of Michigan School of Public Health–shared findings from the group’s recently completed joint community health needs assessment and how those will inform local hospital community health investments in the coming years.

Read the October/November newsletter online for this story, and more, including:

  • In light of recent trends in lost health insurance coverage, as well as Michigan’s pending work requirements, this year’s open enrollment activities will take on new significance as the WHI’s Medicaid and Marketplace Outreach and Enrollment Group works to ensure Washtenaw County residents enroll and stay enrolled
  • Celebrating early wins in the Washtenaw County Substance Use Disorder System Transformation Initiative.
  • Voice of the WHI: Five questions with Marci Scalera, founding co-chair of the WHI Opioid Project
  • Roughly 250 people, representing a variety of professional and community organizations, participated in the second Washtenaw Opioid Summit held on October 1
  • Washtenaw reacts as three federal judges block “public charge” test for immigrants seeking green cards.
  • Three staff members and two interns recently joined CHRT and the Washtenaw Health Initiative to support active work groups–please join us in welcoming them to the work
  • The IHA Health Center at Eastern Michigan University opens to patients on Monday, November 4 and is hosting a community open house on Saturday, November 2 at noon
  • A calendar of Washtenaw Health Initiative meetings for November and December 2019
  • News of note by Nathan Clark (MLive), Jay Greene (Crain’s), Kathleen Gray (Detroit Free Press), and more

Care about improving health for low-income, uninsured, and underinsured people and communities across Washtenaw County? Subscribe to our e-newsletter, follow us on Twitter, attend our meetings, volunteer your time. All are welcome.