The Blue Hills Community Health Alliance streamlined regional work towards a shared vision of healthy, resilient, and equitable communities. We maximized the impact of organizations by creating innovative opportunities to collaborate for common purposes.

community health network areas (CHNA) 

Community Health Network Alliances (CHNA) are coalitions of public, non-profit, and private sector working together to build healthier communities through community-based prevention planning and health promotion. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) established CHNAs in 1992. As one of the 27 Community Health Network Areas across Massachusetts, the Blue Hills Community Health Alliance (CHNA 20) was a partnership of 13 communities working together to:

  • Bring forward the voice of public health in our communities

  • Engage key stakeholders in health improvement

  • Identify local and regional health priorities

  • Design community-based prevention plans to support sustainable change

  • Track success in achieving healthier communities

CHNA 20 activities

At the core of CHNA 20’s work was convening and connecting organizations working to improve public health. We accomplished that through the following activities:

Collaborative Support
One of CHNA 20’s greatest strengths was our ability to serve as a neutral party in health-related efforts, engaging with a wide range of sectors to tackle public health problems. We not only provided intensive education around collective impact and collaboration models, but also aimed to support these efforts on the ground level. We did this through task forces and working groups dedicated to learning more about, and implementing multi-sector, solutions-based initiatives to address, local and regional health priorities.

Learning & Networking Events
CHNA 20 frequently brought together members of the broader community to learn, share, and collaborate on efforts to improve public health in the 13 towns and cities we served. We hosted quarterly general meetings, workshops and trainings, and other learning opportunities around our priority areas throughout the year.

Leveraging Resources
CHNA 20’s role as a regional health coalition included providing technical and financial support to deserving organizations whose efforts supported our mission and vision in our communities. Historically, the coalition had offered grants to support programs, events, and sustainable change projects that lead to positive, enduring, and replicable outcomes on one or more CHNA 20 priority areas. While grant making efforts unfortunately had to be reduced due to changes in DoN funding, CHNA staff continued to provide ongoing education and technical assistance to community partners on a wide range of topics.

funding for chna 20

CHNA 20's initial funding source was through the Determination of Need (DoN) program, which was a community health initiative required and overseen by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH). DoN Funders included: Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton, South Shore Hospital, and Steward Health Care. 

Support for CHNA 20’s transportation initiative was provided in part by grants from the Tufts Health Plan Foundation, Data Across Sectors for Health (DASH), and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Mass in Motion funding is provided by the MA Department of Public Health.

learn more

If you would like to learn more about CHNA 20’s history and/or access archived documents, please email info@baystatecs.org.