For Immediate Release: 9/15/2023 3:23 pm
Since its inception, the Central Massachusetts Regional Public Health Alliance (CMRPHA) has aimed to be an innovative regional public health district united through an array of shared health services. Its capability to do so will now be enhanced through a new Shared Services Coordinator position that will focus on strengthening and facilitating collaboration across each municipality.
Karina Scott, who previous served as Worcester Division of Public Health (WDPH) Strategic Partnership Manager, was hired into this new role on July 1, 2023. She will continue to be based at WDPH, but will work closely with the Boards of Health and administrative staffs of Shrewsbury, Grafton, and West Boylston to coordinate and support the delivery of shared services, including public health nursing, environmental health inspection, community health, and epidemiological resources.
“I am excited to step into this position since I love making community connections. I am looking forward to working with each town to increase awareness and effectiveness of the CMRPHA’s resources and services available to residents, while also expanding residents’ opportunities to inform local public health priorities through community outreach initiatives,” said Scott.
To help shape those priorities, Scott will continue to support the Community Health Assessment and Regional Youth Health Survey, while working with the Coalition for a Healthy Greater Worcester to increase regional participation in the development of the Community Health Improvement Plan. She credits those programs with providing a data-driven approach to determining public health solutions.
In addition to community engagement, a critical component of Scott’s job will be to improve systems of tracking activities across the region, summarizing and sharing data, and drafting quarterly reports on the work being conducted. Shared services have always been actively coordinated and managed across the CMRPHA, but having a dedicated staff person to measure their impact and resource utilization through centralized means is a new benefit.
“We established this position to work with all public health staff within the Alliance to design and implement program initiatives and special projects to improve health outcomes. It will enable the Alliance communities and WDPH to be at the forefront of creating and providing innovative public health program services. Ms. Scott will bring her demonstrated ability to innovate and think creatively to the role, and she is always looking at ways to enhance and improve systems development,” said Director of WDPH and the CMRPHA Soloe Dennis.
Other duties included in Scott’s new role are management of the shared service grant budget, supporting implementation of the CMRPHA’s strategic and business plans, and development of special projects such as training and education, research projects, advocacy efforts, and grant writing.
Beyond providing short-term benefits, Scott hopes that her work will help shine a bigger spotlight on the advantages of a regional public health shared services model and even attract more municipalities to the CMRPHA in the future.
