Addressing the Road Blocks to Whole Person Health – the 2019 NCACH Annual Summit
On Friday, April 12, nearly 200 partners joined the NCACH at Big Bend College in Moses Lake for its 2019 Annual Summit, Addressing the Road Blocks to Whole Person Health.
NCACH’s Annual Summit provides a forum for partners, community members, and stakeholders focused on whole person health to come together for a day of learning, action, and inspiration, as part of our commitment to strengthen the region through shared learning opportunities.
The event was opened by the Confederated Colville Tribes Veteran’s Color Guard Unit, who welcomed us onto traditional native lands with a welcome song and the procession of the colors. Learn more about land acknowledgements here.
As we enter the third year of the Medicaid Transformation Project, NCACH intentionally created this event to provide a forum for our clinical and community partners alike to examine the road blocks to health across the North Central region.
Summit attendees shared the following reflections:“Very inspirational and motivating.”“Liked the afternoon focus on ‘what’s next.’”“I think the information is relevant to any medical practice. Healthcare needs to be inclusive.”“I am new to community health and found each of the presentations provocative and insightful.”“I thought all the presenters were relevant and provided amazing ideas and conversations to continue.”
We were honored to welcome Professor john a. powell, and his team, the Seed Collaborative, as our keynote and special guests. Dr. powell, an internationally recognized expert on equity, delivered two keynote addresses focused on what creates ‘road blocks’ to health and how we can develop solutions for positive change.
john’s team, the Seed Collaborative, delivered two breakout sessions that were uniquely developed for the 2019 Annual Summit and designed to facilitate discussions and action-planning on health equity issues in the North Central region.
In addition to john and the Seed Collaborative, the 2019 Summit also provided a forum for key updates and opportunities to dive deeper on issues that create road blocks to achieving whole person health.
During our last activity of the Summit, a panel discussion reflecting on the outcomes of the day, moderator, Paul Hudson with Seed Collaborative, pressed both the panelists and the audience:How do we continue the conversations we are having today? How do we move towards a more equitable system of health?
NCACH believes the answers are already here in our community. Panelists were a mix of presenters and key sector leaders reflecting on the content and goals shared from the day.
From our presenters, we are encouraged to: remember the ‘Story behind the statistics’; to build systems that are inclusive and allow everyone the opportunity to reach the same universal goal of whole person health; to design programs that build trust and foster dignity and respect between service providers and the communities they serve; and finally, to understand that if you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.
Here at NCACH, we are thankful to everyone who has helped move our region so far already; and we are excited to continue moving forward together. We are grateful to all of our presenters, speakers, and all of those working to build healthier communities across Chelan, Douglas, Grant, and Okanogan Counties.
A special thank you to Swoboda Photography for capturing our event! Click here to see all of the photos from the event. (Use password "ncach" to access.)
As our Executive Director says …. Charge on!
