Life Expectancy on the 1-90 Corridor

Did you see this picture in The Spokesman Review today? 

This map helps to highlight the motivation behind a lot of the work we do at Better Health Together. When it comes to health, not all zip codes are created equal. BHT is committed to addressing not just access to health care, but the social determinants of health outcomes as well. Things like access to healthy and affordable food, a safe house to sleep in, clean air, walkable streets, and the emotional support people need to be healthy. Working collaboratively to close the gap on these health disparities is crucial to ensuring health for all in Eastern Washington.

A Community of Change

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I love Spokane. My family and I feel blessed to live in a place that is filled with beautiful landscape, amazing people and an independent spirit that makes things possible. There is a secret sauce in Eastern Washington that makes our Accountable Community of Health work. We are not waiting to be told what to do; we are making it happen.

You see this in the building of much needed Housing First housing by VOA, Catholic Charities, the City and County (plus some super generous donors and finance folks). You see it in the collaborative ways that our community partner organizations come together for our weekly client management meetings.

You see it in our rural communities as they figure out how to solve their most pressing issues, often without the resources of the big city. And you see it in community investment strategies that are not perpetuating the status quo (way to go, United Way, City of Spokane and Empire Health Foundation for pushing us to be more strategic, innovative and impactful).

Why is this happening here? Our success can be partly attributed to our frontier spirit that permeates our approach. It is also because we have not always had choices—we have needed to take action to achieve the change we want in our communities.

I am grateful to be here in Eastern Washington, leading this important work. Better Health Together is not limited to implementing specific parts of health care reform plan. Instead, I believe, it is a social movement—dare I say revolution?—to make our communities healthier, more equitable and better places to live, learn, work and play.

This movement is not just about saving money for our health care system; it is a movement that
balances and respects individual rights to health and wellbeing with our collective responsibility to each other. This is a movement that implores us to change how we work as a community health system, to be more impactful and to behave in different ways. I am grateful for the chance to be on the front lines of this revolution with you all.

 


 

Our Regional Map

A key to the success of Better Health Together is the vast web of partners across our region. The interactive map below, provides a visual snapshot of these partnerships throughout Ferry, Stevens, Pend Orielle, Lincoln, Spokane, Adams and Whitman counties. Can’t See the map?

  


 

Navigator Network

The In-person Assistance Network provides on the ground support to individuals enrolling in health insurance through Washington

Accountable Community of Health (ACH) Partners
Our action-oriented partners are working to achieve the Triple Aim of better health and better care at a lower cost. Learn more about our work.

Hot Spotters
Hot Spotters targets high need patients who present to emergency rooms and emergency responders with a complex blend of social, medical, mental health and/or substance abuse issues.

DENT
The DENT program connects patients to dental care and expands the network of dental providers accepting Apple Health. It was designed to reduce unnecessary Emergency Room utilization for dental emergencies and to coordinate a network of oral health care providers to improve access, health, and reduce costs for this population.

FAR
, a program of Children’s Administration, seeks to keep families united by providing alternative interventions for allegations of child neglect.

Medicaid Managed Plans Available by County
Medicaid Health plan choice varies from county to county. This map provides a high-level visual of the available Medicaid Health plans and how this compares to other counties in our region. Note that the Medicaid data on this map does not provide location information.