Planning sessions end, projects begin for HHCC Action Team

The Healthy Henry County Communities (HHCC) Action Team finished its three-month-long strategic planning sessions with Healthy Hometown of Wellmark Tuesday afternoon by forming specific plans on how the team's committees will begin implementing their plans.

About 18 people gathered in the Henry County Hospital and Clinics for the final master plan workshop. The majority of the meeting consisted of the members breaking up into smaller groups to brainstorm ideas on how to move forward. While Henry County Health Department director Kelly Carr said the weather had kept some of the leaders of the subgroups from the meeting, she is very optimistic about the future work of the groups.

'We came up with some great action plans,” she said. 'The nice thing about these is there are different champions (team leaders) working on these and they are going to keep moving them forward. I envision as we begin working on these we will all touch base and if someone gets stuck the others can move in and help.”

Jim Cushing, community health manager for Healthy Hometowns Powered by Wellmark, will compile the tactics made during the meeting and return them to Carr. The plans he makes will be what the action team focuses on moving forward.

The team was formed to carry out activities of a three-year Healthy Resources and Services Administration grant HHCC was awarded in 2018. It consists of current members of HHCC as well as volunteers from the community. The group will be implementing plans to create a healthier Henry County by working in the community to recognize the top health-related needs in the community and address them.

Among the plans created Tuesday, the group is considering the use of a $7,500 grant to be used for community-related activities in Mt. Pleasant. Discussion was given to creating health-related areas in the Mt. Pleasant School District. Members will take the ideas to the district for input and to see if there is any interest.

Carr said the team will continue planning and feels the plans will give the team good momentum to follow.

'They are making excellent progress on the master plan and doing it in a thoughtful way by looking at all the evidence-based tactics and now they are starting to narrow those down so they can focus on results,” Cushing said.

The date of the next meeting will be announced at a later date.