CME2 - Collaborative Community Health Strategy to Improve Hypertension Outcomes in Chicago

Session Description: Hypertension is a key driver of Chicago’s stark 11.4 life expectancy gap between Black and non-Black residents, contributing to cardiovascular disease and premature mortality in Black communities. Public health crises catalyzed an unprecedented collaboration across the City of Chicago, leveraging all parts of the health system to address urgent public health needs. Building on this foundation and other initiatives, stakeholders have come together to implement a population health strategy targeting uncontrolled hypertension. This initiative is extensive, engaging nearly all FQHCs, major academic health centers, CDPH, and two state-funded Medicaid transformation projects that connect Medicaid beneficiaries to primary care. The strategy operates at three levels:
1. Clinic-level Quality Improvement: Enhancing hypertension care through evidence-based interventions.
2. Community-level Intervention: Deploying mobile clinical teams, including pharmacists, into trusted community and faith-based organizations.
3. Citywide Public Health Campaign: Led by CDPH, raising awareness and promotes hypertension prevention and management strategies.

This multi-sector collaboration leverages Chicago’s diverse health care infrastructure to improve hypertension outcomes, addressing health for all and reducing premature mortality. It exemplifies a sustainable model for tackling chronic disease by uniting clinical, community, and public health efforts, with FQHCs not only at the table, but as part of the overall leadership of the initiative. Participants will hear from leadership at Access Community Health Network, Rush University, Alliance Chicago, CDPH, and Wellness West, about the building of this initiative, how strengths and perspectives are leveraged for a cohesive vision, barriers that often plague large initiatives and the techniques/tools used to overcome them.