Located in the heart of Gold Country, nestled within the Sierra Nevada Mountains, lies Placer County, a community with common challenges in a less than typical setting. Not entirely rural—not entirely suburban—but home to over 400,000 diverse residents with highly varying economic backgrounds. While the county has a low unemployment rate at-large, rates are three to four times higher in some rural communities. This, partnered with limited health care access, leads to major health disparities.

To address these challenges, the Health Education Council (HEC)—an experienced Accountable Community for Health (ACH) backbone organization that also serves West Sacramento—has partnered with Invest Health cities initiative and the City of Roseville to expand its Roseville-based efforts countywide, building an ACH upon longstanding organizational relationships developed by the Placer Collaborative Network.

“There is so much energy at the table,” says Roxana Garcia-Ochoa, MPH, HEC’s health access and education program director. “The level of commitment from these organizations speaks volumes and is a hook that's going to continue to bring in new partners as we work to grow and expand countywide.”

These partners all represent various sectors, including health care providers, city and county government, community-based organizations and many others. They are working together to align systems to decrease health inequities in priority communities across the county.

“This is about building trust, relationships and a shared vision so that we can reduce health inequities and build a healthier Placer County for all residents,” says Debra Oto-Kent, MPH, HEC’s founding executive director. “The keys to our success will be strong resident engagement and active collaboration between our local managed care plans, multi-sector partners and community-based organizations.”

The ACH’s primary state initiative, CalAIM, will serve as a focal point of their equity work. This initiative will help leverage CalAIM opportunities to address the unique, diverse needs of Medi-Cal participants by aligning resources, engaging community residents and expanding relevant services to improve health outcomes.

“This is incremental work—and we are all learning together—but we’re excited for the community’s future,” continues Oto-Kent. “We’re going to leverage the collaborative efforts that are already happening to expand discussion and take action on goals that we develop together to create healthy thriving neighborhoods in Placer County.”

For more information visit healthedcouncil.org/what-we-do/programs/access-to-hlth-srvcs/placer-county-ach.html