Community Health Workers for a Healthy Virginia (CHWs for a Healthy VA)
Community Health Workers for a Healthy Virginia (CHWs for a Healthy VA) is a 3-year capacity building project led by IPHI in partnership with a wide range of state and local partners across Virginia. The initiative is funded through a national grant initiative of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Through the project, IPHI and its partners will deploy CHWs as a strategic intervention to assist communities in the response and recovery from COVID-19. The project will also develop and test innovative financing strategies to support the long-term sustainability of CHWs and community resource providers.
IPHI has partnered with numerous organizations across Virginia to hire CHWs to help with recovery and response. Through the grant, community-based organizations, health care providers, local health departments, and other partners will hire and deploy CHWs, and IPHI will assist with training and provide technical assistance. These partners are addressing gaps in access to COVID-related services, such as testing, vaccination, and quarantine support, and responding to community needs that have been exacerbated by COVID-19, such as access to health and mental health care, housing services, and food assistance.
The project has selected partners in four areas of need:
- Southwest VA/Mt Rogers
- Ballad Health
- Healing Hands Health Center
- Mount Rogers Health District
- Norfolk/Portsmouth
- Capital Center of VA (CCVA) – Urban Baby Beginnings (UBB)
- International Black Women’s Congress
- Sentara Healthcare
- Portsmouth Health District
- Pittsylvania/Danville
- Piedmont Access to Health Services (PATHS)
- Sovah Health (Life Point)
- Richmond/Petersburg
- Richmond Henrico Health District (RHHD)
- Central VA Health Services (CVHS)
- Capital Center of VA (CCVA) – Urban Baby Beginnings (UBB)
- Crossover Health Center
- Health Brigade
- Sacred Heart
- Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)
CHWs for a Healthy Virginia project also intends to address the issue of sustainable financing for CHW programs. Historically, CHW-based community impact models has been limited by a lack of viable financing options. IPHI is developing a framework to identify, pilot, and evaluate CHW and community resource financing models. IPHI is identifying high priority communities and populations that would benefit the most from CHW interventions. Then, in collaboration with local partners, IPHI will develop and pilot region-specific financing models for CHW and community resource providers to evaluate and demonstrate the return on investment and social benefits.
