Exemplary Health Equity Practice Award
2017 Awardee | SAN MATEO PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT
Get Healthy San Mateo County is a community, county, city, school, hospital, and San Mateo Health System (SMCHS) collaborative that uses policy change to prevent disease and ensure everyone has equitable opportunities to live a long, healthy life. A community-based strategic planning effort identified four priorities: 1. Healthy Housing – stable and affordable housing that protects health and provides the ability to engage in healthy opportunities; 2. Healthy Neighborhoods – complete neighborhoods that make it easy for residents to be healthy everyday in their communities; 3. Healthy Schools – high-quality education that creates pathways to better health; and 4. Healthy Economy – a strong local economy that builds household financial security for all and promotes everyone’s health. SMCHS’s Health Policy and Planning Program, which facilitates the collaborative, allocates resources towards advancing these priorities in places with the highest inequities, funds non-profit organizations’ projects, and prioritizes community leadership. GHSMC’s recent projects include data analysis on transit deserts and a profile of low-wage workers; testimony on the connections between displacement, eviction, and health; and support for First Five and County Parks to develop policy and equity-focused projects.