STAFF AND COMMITTEE REPORTS
February 24, 2015

Organizational Updates
The Bernalillo County Community Health Council is now officially incorporated in the state of New Mexico as of February 11, 2015. The next step is submission of our application to the IRS for 501(c)(3) non-profit status.

[This section is a repeat from previous reports.... for those who missed it.]
The Bernalillo County Community Health Council (BCCHC) is entering into a transitional stage of our ongoing evolution as an organization. Bernalillo County discontinued funding for the BCCHC coordinator as a staff position as of October 17th, although they have entered into a contract with Marsha to continue current support for the Opioid Accountability Initiative on a part-time basis. The voting members of BCCHC decided to move forward with incorporating BCCHC as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, and Marsha will remain as the coordinator supported through various contracts, including the Opioid Initiative contract mentioned above and a contract to coordinate the coalition on behalf of BCCHC for Communities Leading Healthy Change, the new CDC REACH grant recently received by Presbyterian Healthcare System (see below).
The new Board of Directors will meet immediately following each monthly meeting from 12:15-1:30 pm.
In addition to specific monthly meetings for the Board of Directors, monthly networking meetings will be continued to encourage broad community participation and sharing of information. These monthly meetings will also provide an opportunity to receive ongoing community input into the community health improvement planning process as that moves forward.

REACH - Communities Leading Healthy Change
The CLHC LeadTeam consising of all contractors and key partners had a retreat on Friday, February 6, 2015, at the South Valley Health Commons. Almost all contracts are now in place for the three components of healthy eating, active living and clinical/community linkages.

Background from previous report: Four new staff members for the CDC-funded REACH/CLHC project based at Presbyterian Healthcare Services have been hired and began work on December 8th:

Tamara Toles – Program Manager

Valerie Quintana – Community and Clinical Linkages Coordinator

Tatiana Falcon-Rodriguez – Community Engagement Specialist

Trish Moore – Senior Secretary

This 3-year project will be implementing environmental and systems approaches to reduce chronic disease in the International District (focus on Hispanic/Latino population and Native Americans) and the South Valley (focus on Hispanic/Latino population). Several contracts with community-based organizations will work in the areas of improving opportunities for healthy eating, active living and community clinical prevention connections. Leigh Caswell, BCCHC chair and Manager of Community Health at Presbyterian Healthcare Services, is the Principal Investigator for the project, with Marsha contracted to serve as the coordinator for the new Communities Leading Healthy Change coalition that will function within the current BCCHC structure. BCCHC members will be encouraged to get involved in their areas of interest.

Opioid Accountability Initiative
Links to videos of the second Opioid Accountability Summit that took place on January 8, 2015, at the CNM Workforce Training Center are now available at . Approximately 200 people attended to hear updates on progress of theBernalillo County Opioid Abuse Accountability Initiativesince the first summit in September 2013,identifying successes and unrealized opportunities,as well as barriers that have impeded progress.

Links to handouts and PowerPoint presentations are posted at Links to the videos, reports and handouts from the 1st Summit and the June 12, 2014, update meeting can also be found at.

Anyone who is interested in serving on any of the Implementation Teams for Prevention, Treatment, Narcan or Law Enforcement/Criminal Justice should contact Marsha for more information on how to get involved.
Early Childhood Accountability Partnership (ECAP)
ECAP received funding from the United Way of Central New Mexico to fund Tracy McDaniel as the new part-time ECAP coordinator effective December 2, 2014. For any questions about ECAP activities or how to get involved, contactTracy at her new email address, .

ECAP continues its work as the Early Childhood Collaborative Action Network of Mission: Graduate, focusing on three areas of strategic action:

Strategy 1: Increase awareness and knowledge about importance of early childhood development

Strategy 2: Engage families in support of parenting skills/practices, support services, and transition

Strategy 3: Promote and expand early literacy

The Communications Team that is focusing on Strategy 1 joined with NM PBS to sponsor a free showing of "A Path Appears" on Wednesday, January 28 at 7:00 pm at the KiMo Theatre, 423 Central Ave NW. "Actress Jennifer Garner takes journalist Nicholas Kristoff on a journey to her home state of West Virginia to see firsthand the impacts of poverty on young children. The story focuses on the real lives of families dealing with poverty through home visits. The film shows the importance of home visiting programs, WIC and other parent supports as a path beyond poverty." The film screening was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Megan Kamerick. Then, in early February, the Communications Team hosted a luncheon with faith leaders to screen "A Path Appears" and discuss how the faith community can get involved in supporting early childhood development activities.

The Family Supports Team is holding a Family Supports Summit on February 27, 2015, from 9 am to 1 pm at the CNM Workforce Training Center, 5600 Eagle Rock Ave NE. The day’s agenda is designed to guide participants toward a common understanding of the current system of services for young children and their families. By participating in this important conversation, you will help shape ECAP’s actions to improve outcomes for Bernalillo County children, prenatal to age 8. Contact Tracy at for more information, or go to to register.

New Mexico Alliance of Health Councils

HB99, sponsored by Rep. Sharon Clahchischilliage, was incorporated into HB2 - the budget bill - for $200,000 for health councils statewide. It has been sent over to the Senate Finance Committee and will be heard soon.

The NM Health Equity Partnership's statewide gathering "Strengthening Our Health Equity Network" will be held on May 4th & 5th in San Juan County for county/tribal health councils, Place Matters teams and HIA teams. Registration for the event is free, but health council participants will need to cover their own travel/lodging. Registration is available at: