A new coalition of San Francisco health system institutions is launching this fall to address persistent and inequitable differences in health across San Francisco neighborhoods. Healthy Neighborhoods San Francisco (HNSF) brings together members from the San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco Health Plan, UCSF, Sutter, Kaiser and other major health systems to improve neighborhood-level health in the city.
The coalition identified high blood pressure as its first focus because it is a major preventable cause of illness and death in San Francisco, but the burden of this condition is unevenly distributed across neighborhoods.
HNSF will use a new, collaborative approach to tackling health disparities. Coalition members will share electronic health record data and combine those data with geospatial analysis and input from community partners. Together, these sources will help identify areas with unmet health needs and inform locally relevant solutions. By bringing together health systems, public institutions and community partners, HNSF hopes to paint a full picture of each neighborhood’s needs and increase the capacity to deliver new technologies for blood pressure screening, monitoring and treatment.
DEB representatives on HNSF include Mark Pletcher, MD, MPH, Madelaine Faulkner Modrow, MPH, and Kathryn Kemper-McIsaac, MPH.