Regional Health Hubs Created by Majority Leader Greenwald’s Legislation Recognized in White House “Playbook”
New Jersey’s Regional Health Hub (RHH) program recognized as a model for connecting community members with services
Enabling these members of our communities to receive the health and social services they need improves not only individual lives but entire communities.”
TRENTON, NEW JERSEY, UNITED STATES, December 27, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The recently issued “U.S. Playbook to Address Social Determinants of Health” from the Biden-Harris Administration (https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/SDOH-Playbook-3.pdf) recognizes New Jersey’s Regional Health Hub (RHH) program as a model that it hopes to replicate across the country.— Majority Leader Louis Greenwald
The Regional Health Hubs, created by legislation sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald in 2020, designates four organizations—the Camden Coalition, the Greater Newark Health Care Coalition, the Health Coalition of Passaic County, and the Trenton Health Team—to serve as intermediaries between state government, Medicaid recipients, and the local organizations that serve those community members in order to address the fragmented and siloed systems of care that contribute to poor outcomes and experiences for New Jersey’s Medicaid beneficiaries.
“Providing care to individuals in complex circumstances—when medical conditions combine with social issues like lack of housing or access to mental health services—requires the kind of coordinated approach Regional Health Hubs can provide,” said Majority Leader Greenwald (D-Camden, Burlington). “Enabling these members of our communities to receive the health and social services they need improves not only individual lives but entire communities.”
The Biden-Harris Administration’s acknowledgment of New Jersey’s Regional Health Hub model to address social determinants of health underscores Majority Leader Greenwald’s position that non-profit organizations have the capacity to become local innovation engines and serve as key partners in the collaborative and ongoing efforts to eliminate health disparities.
The White House Playbook, developed by the Office of Science and Technology Policy’s Domestic Policy Council, highlighted the RHHs under the heading “Innovation in Action,” stating: “This innovative [Regional Health Hub] model establishes a regional network of non-profit organizations that partner with Medicaid and State agencies to reduce health disparities and improve health outcomes by combining robust connections to social services and community resources at both the patient and organizational levels.”
The Playbook goes on to support additional funding and expansion of the concept, including “a $5.5 million discretionary grant to fund a national Center of Excellence to provide technical support and facilitate collaboration between hubs and the health care sector […]. Increasing the quantity and scope of hubs will enable more rapid, efficient, and sustainable delivery of social care services.”
Camden Coalition President and CEO Kathleen Noonan stated: “To serve our communities effectively, we need to build robust ecosystems of care that recognize that, for some people, providing care in an emergency room is not enough. To stabilize them and enable them to maintain good health, we must address other circumstances in their lives that impact the effectiveness of any medical care they receive. The partnerships and referral networks envisioned by Majority Leader Greenwald’s legislation are one of the reasons why the RHH model has received national recognition.”
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Rachel Goemaat
Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald
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