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Lansing, Mich., Community Mobilizes to Improve Health Care Access for Uninsured
Development of an organized system of health care for the indigent
The Ingham County Health Department, working in partnership with hospitals, employers, consumers and insurers in Lansing, Mich., created an organized system of care for county residents.
This included health plan coverage for the uninsured and a network of neighborhood-based services in distressed inner-city communities.
Between 1994 and 2004, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) awarded two grants totaling $498,521 to support this project (ID#s 023969 and 031797).
The first grant laid the basis for the communities' organized system of care. Under the second grant, the Ingham County Health Department and its partners led multiple stakeholders (consumers, employers, hospitals and insurers) in a community mobilization process.
Key Results:
- The project team conducted two large community forums and associated smaller group sessions to foster community participation.
- The Capital Area Health Alliance produced the Action Plan for an Organized System of Care for the Capital Area.
- Health care coverage of the uninsured in Ingham County increased, with over half the county's uninsured population in 2000 enrolled in the Ingham Health Plan by 2002.
- Four neighborhood centers became hubs for collaborative service delivery and community mobilization.