Exploring Shared Services Collaboration in Wisconsin Local Public Health Agencies

In Summer 2009, the Wisconsin Division of Public Health (WDPH), under the leadership of Administrator Seth Foldy, MD, MPH, contracted with IWHI to complete a preliminary exploration of the current status of collaborative public health service sharing in Wisconsin.  The basic elements of the project included:

• A literature review that included peer-reviewed and other key literature on regionalization, shared services and regional collaboration in public health, as well as telephone and email queries with selected public health leaders.

• Key issues identification through interviews and survey – Telephone interviews were completed with eight key informants from Wisconsin who had significant shared service agreements and/or formal collaborative experience.  An online survey was created and the link distributed through DPH to all LHDs and tribal health departments and selected regional and central WDPH staff.

• An in-person meeting with 40 invitees was held in Madison on June 24, 2009.  Each Wisconsin Association of Local Health Departments and Boards (WALHDAB) regional chair sent a team of representatives to the meeting.  Dr. Foldy invited WDPH Regional Office Directors and key individuals from WDPH central office based on their leadership roles and/or history with shared services projects.  The purposes of the meeting were to: a) encourage discussion around the issue of shared services in public health, and, b) to explore issues of consensus.

• The group developed principles that could be used as a guide for future collaborative efforts by WDPH central and regional staff as well as local health department leaders and others.

Building Capacity for Promoting Population-based Prevention Strategies in Wisconsin

This project is funded by the Medical College of Wisconsin's Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program for the purpose of helping to build capacity within IWHI. Our partner in this is the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI), an organization that, among other priorities, offers guidance to emerging public health institutes. The project is connecting IWHI with other public health institutes who have special strengths in the areas of communications, finance & sustainability, systems, organizational evaluation and partnership development. IWHI Director, Timothy Corden, MD, serves as the MCW faculty partner for this project.