Community Health Entrepreneur Challenge for Members

This two-year initiative, launched in collaboration with UnitedHealthcare Community & State, supports health centers and ACH members in cultivating new and innovative approaches for addressing complex problems that affect the health and well-being of local communities.

A selection committee of policy, health care, and social service thought leaders reviewed dozens of submissions and identified five awardees who received $500,000 grants. They represent some of the nation’s largest FQHCs, with each organization serving more than 40,000 patients annually and employing over 300 full-time employees. The initiatives receiving funding will address the needs of underserved populations in a variety of rural and urban regions across the country.

The five Community Health Entrepreneurship Challenge awardees and their initiatives are:

Columbia Basin Health Association (CBHA) located in Washington: In response to the lack of easy access to behavioral health services and the needs in their local school districts, CBHA is developing a HIPAA-compliant ChatBot that provides on-demand behavioral health care. Using a QR code, students will be able to schedule and attend behavioral telehealth appointments with CBHA providers using their personal mobile devices.

Lowell Community Health Center (Lowell CHC) located in Massachusetts: The Lowell CHC Health Justice Learning Institute will serve as a community-based, practitioner-led, anti-racist experiential training facility for a broad range of health professionals, anchored by a family medicine residency program. The Institute builds on decades of intentional efforts by Lowell CHC to advance health justice and aims to transform the way health centers across the nation teach and prepare health care professionals.

Mariposa Community Health Center (Mariposa) located in Arizona: To improve patient care, Mariposa will implement machine learning and artificial intelligence through a predictive modeling approach that will enable the organization to make proactive, predictive decisions based on data science. Leveraging data in this manner will allow providers to make more informed clinical decisions, empower executive management to make data-based decisions on value-based contracts, achieve clinical quality goals, address health equity and bias, and improve patient outcomes.

Morris Heights Health Center (MHHC) located in New York: Age Well is a two-year pilot program that aims to improve the quality of life and health outcomes of MHHC’s 65+ population by increasing their access and connection to clinical and non-clinical services. Through patient-centric and comprehensive engagement and outreach strategies, this unique and replicable program aims to offer health centers a new approach to serving older populations.

Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation (MCHC) located in Kentucky: MCHC’s RAISE program helps employees reach educational goals and advance their careers through apprenticeship pathways and advanced degree programs. By addressing barriers to continuing education and leveraging partnerships with local higher education institutions, RAISE is a crucial tool to improve employee satisfaction and retention, as well as patient satisfaction.

Grantees will receive $500,000 over two years to develop and implement their proposed concepts along with technical support in the areas of model/intervention design, evaluation, data analytics, policy analysis, and sustainability planning.