The Garrett County Health Improvement Plan is now complete. The plan was developed under the direction of the Garrett County Health Planning Council. This Council is made up of 17 members appointed by the Board of Health (County Commissioners ). The Health Officer is the Executive Officer of the Council, supported by a Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson. The 17 members of the Council represent the local health department and hospital, local Federally Qualified Health Center, pharmacy, nursing homes, county government, medical society, and 10 consumers of health services. The mission of the Council is to insure a high quality, effective, integrated community care system that is responsive to the needs of the Garrett County people.
The Health Planning Council members are not novices with health planning efforts. In 2008, the Council, with administrative support from the Garrett County Health Department and Garrett County Memorial Hospital, completed the MAPP (Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnership) process resulting in a five year strategic plan for health. Because this plan is near the end of its five year lifespan (2008-2012), the Health Planning Council updated and revised the previous plan, coordinating efforts with the State Health Improvement Planning Process (SHIP).
Four workgroups met to review, update, and revise the previous plan; and a fifth met to review data that fell outside the previous issue areas and make recommendations about new issue areas. These workgroups are as follows:
Community input to the LHIP is very important to the Health Planning Council. Please review the draft and contact Kendra McLaughlin with your feedback. All comments are appreciated.