History of Summit

In January 2010 a West Baltimore Health Summit was convened by Senator Verna Jones in close collaboration with Bon Secours Hospital and a number of other key local, state and federal partners to discuss strategies to increasing access to primary care in the area.  Roughly 75 participants were involved in summit – elected officials, health/social service providers, educational institutions, insurers, philanthropists, advocacy organizations, and community residents.  The goals of the summit were to 1) review the capacity of West Baltimore’s existing health care delivery system, 2) identify the system’s strengths and weaknesses, and 3) explore the roles that various stakeholders in the community could play to expand access to care and improve the health and well being of West Baltimore’s residents.

One of the major outcomes of the summit was the commitment to conduct a comprehensive Primary Care Access Assessment to determine the capacity and strength of the existing primary care safety net and explore ways that the community could work together to expand access and improve the quality of care, particularly in light of the pending changes from Health Care Reform.  This section of the website will contain updates from the West Baltimore project.

Current Primary Care Access Assessment

In early 2011, MACHC secured a grant from Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States to fund the comprehensive assessment.  Working with Bon Secours Hospital and Associated Black Charities, MACHC secured a contractor, John Snow Inc. to carry out the project.  The project will consist of three phases:

Phase One:
- An examination of secondary data, including demographic and socio-economic data, epidemiologic data, hospital inpatient and emergency room data, and state Medicaid data
- Stakeholder Interviews
- Beginning exploration of practical and theoretical impacts of PPACA
- Geo-demographic/GIS Mapping Analysis

Phase Two:
- Collect primary data directly from community residents through community resident surveys, interviews, focus groups and/or a community survey
- Complete exploration of the PPACA

Phase Three:
- Completion of final report
- Summit with community stakeholders