King County Healthcare Coalition
ASSESSEMENT AND ENGAGEMENT OVERVIEW

This section of the Toolkit will help define the key elements and organizations that need to be identified, considered and consulted when undertaking a Healthcare Coalition planning process.

If your health jurisdiction is not undertaking the entire coalition development process, this section will provide you with the necessary assessment steps to inform your individual organizational planning process.


ASSESSING THE CURRENT LANDSCAPE
It is almost impossible to investigate and assess every element that could be involved with or impact a health and medical response during an emergency but the following checklist provides a starting point for consideration. Public Health should investigate:

• Geographic and regional landscape and boundaries
• Political boundaries and supportive constituents
• Governmental structures and lead organizations
• Existing programs and key leaders
• State level activities and existing relationships
• Key local individual and organizational advocates
• Demographics and people

In addition to these key considerations, assessing and understanding the fundamental environments of healthcare organizations, first responder agencies, emergency management agencies and other response partners is a must.

Keep in mind, that it can be easy for Public Health and healthcare organizations to “stay in the assessment phase” for too long and create insurmountable barriers that can make it impossible to move the development process forward. We recommend that you set realistic objectives for completing the assessment phase, divide the information collection tasks and set deadlines for completion.

ENGAGING THE RIGHT PARTNERS
Public Health frequently collaborates with community organizations to better reach the community. Some healthcare and service organizations have a history of friendly but informal partnerships with Public Health. It is very important that these relationships with key stakeholders are developed and formalized to ensure continuity in planning outcomes. Consider the following types of organizations to include in your engagement activities:

• Hospitals
• Medical Groups
• Safety Net Providers
• Home Healthcare
• Long Term Care
• Mental Health
• Specialty Providers (Aging and Disability Services, Dialysis Services, Blood Center, Poison Center, etc.)
• Pediatrics
• Tribes

The scale of impact and the important function of a Healthcare Coalition require that the right people be involved from the start. It is essential to get the support and participation of organizational decision makers such as Chief Executive Officers, Executive Directors, Chief Operating Officers, Medical Directors, Health Officers, Chief Medical Officers, etc. Although it is important to have other positions such as clinicians, administers and operational representatives as members of the Coalition, these key decision makers will drive the success of implementing the coordinated action steps of a Healthcare Coalition.

Learn more about how to engage these key players in the Stakeholders Development section.