Team Trained to Improve County Health

The 2014 San Bernardino County (SBC) Partners for Better Health Team has been selected to participate in the National Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health (NLAPH) program, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. NLAPH is a national program focused on improving population health by working with multi-sector leadership teams and training these teams through an applied, team-based collaborative leadership development model. The program is implemented by the Center for Health Leadership and Practice (CHLP), a center of the Public Health Institute, and will provide training and support for a period of one year. “This program will impart population health teams with the skills to lead across sectors and collaboratively solve complex population health problems in innovative ways,” said Carmen Rita Nevarez MD, MPH, Vice President for External Relations and CHLP's Director. “These are the types of leaders who will ultimately be able to drive critical efforts, such as the adoption of evidence-based policies and practices at the community level, which can have a tangible impact on health outcomes.” “The SBC team will assess and make recommendations regarding innovative cross-sectorial models giving us the necessary framework for strategies that will ensure sustainability of preventive and population health services,” Raymundo said. Barilla said, “We at LLUH are very proud to be part of this team that will work to improve the health of residents in SBC. Improving our community’s health includes many components and requires strong partnerships among community members that share the same goal.” Members of the SBC Team include: Dora Barilla, Assistant Vice President for Strategy and Innovation at Loma Linda University Health (LLUH); Evette De Luca, Director at Partners for Better Health; George Searcy, Executive Director at Hope Through Housing; and Trudy Raymundo, Public Health Director at SBC.