The American Hospital Association has launched the 2021 Hospital Community Collaborative to address health equity.
Hospitals and health systems are invited to enroll in this year's cohort, the association said in announcing the news March 30.
The Hospital Community Collaborative is in its second year, after initially launching in 2019.
AHA representatives said the initiative is to encourage hospitals and health systems to prioritize health equity, and it aims to make it easier for hospitals and community organizations to partner to develop and lead grassroots interventions that address community health needs.
"Healthcare has a long way to go to effectively address health inequity, but there are evidence-based approaches to start tackling — or continue the battle against — the social factors that put marginalized populations at risk," Nancy Myers, senior vice president of leadership and system innovation at the AHA Center for Health Innovation, said in a news release. "By joining the Hospital Community Collaborative, healthcare providers can explore and deploy new approaches, both simple and complex, to develop effective community partnerships and make health care accessible for all people."
The 2021 initiative will focus on community-level health disparities caused, exacerbated or illuminated by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the association.
It involves a peer-to-peer learning network, as well as an interactive and curated digital tools related to community partnerships.
The collaborative is funded by a more than $1 million grant from the Novartis US Foundation.
To apply and learn more about the collaborative, click here.
More articles on leadership and management:
How health systems are using employee feedback to bounce back from pandemic
How Avera Health CEO overcomes distractions to connecting with employees
Boston has more hospital chiefs on corporate boards than other cities, investigation finds