The first Hampden County Health Improvement Plan (HCHIP) was developed in 2015-16 through a collaboration of organizations and individuals who came together in response to Hampden County's poor ranking (last) in the Robert Wood Johnson County Health Rankings. The HCHIP is a long-term strategic plan for addressing health disparities and improving community health based on the area Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) completed by area hospitals every three years. Hospitals in Hampden County include Baystate Medical Center, Baystate Wing, Baystate Mary Lane, Baystate Noble, Mercy Hospital, Holyoke Medical Center, and Shriners Hospital.

The HCHIP Network is made up of representatives of Member Organizations and individuals who meet quarterly as a group, and monthly in four Community Teams to work toward implementing the strategies outlined in the 2017 Hampden CHIP. The collaboration is convened and facilitated by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts under the direction of a Design Team made up of representatives from each of the four HCHIP Community Teams. The HCHIP Network welcomes the voices of all community members and the organizations that serve them to understand the challenges and build on the strengths of our partner organizations and coalitions working to improve the health and well-being of all Hampden County residents.

Some recent initiatives that have resulted in part from the implementation of strategies included in the 2017 CHIP include:

• Siting and installation of "NaloxBoxes" in strategic locations and training of community members on how to administer Narcan to reduce the number of opioid deaths

• Training on suicide prevention techniques for hair stylists, bartenders, and others in the service industry who have direct contact with young adults in the community

• Educating social service providers and health workers on the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) so that they can encourage clients to use this resource to access fresh fruits and vegetables with their EBT cards

• Building capacity of mentoring organizations

Plan Implementation

In 2018, with funding from Baystate Health, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) and the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts (PHIWM) re-convened members of the Hampden CHIP Network to begin implementation of strategies presented in the 2017 CHIP. With a focus on health equity and the impacts of structural racism, the structure for the CHIP implementation eliminated the Health Equity working group and charged each of the other domain teams with reviewing their priority strategies with a health equity lens and an understanding of how these strategies disrupt health inequities caused by systemic racism.

Each Community Team meets monthly to discuss ways to track and implement selected strategies.