A group of more than 150 people gathered in Lakeport on Nov. 21 to talk about a pressing issue: the health of Lake County, ranked 58th out of 58 counties in California in terms of health, and it”s hovered at the bottom of the list for the past decade.
The ranking is based largely on significant tobacco and other drug use, suicide and drug-related deaths and high rates of heart disease and stroke.
Enter the “Way to Wellville,” an experimental initiative that may be exactly what Lake County needs to turn its health around. Wellville”s definition of health encompasses all aspects of the wellbeing of the community including physical, mental and emotional health; the economy and employment opportunities; and the way the community sees itself.
The Way to Wellville is a nationwide challenge among communities of fewer than 100,000 people. Of the 42 applications received in May, five were chosen based on their perceived ability to come together as a community and succeed in the face of major health concerns. They are: Clatsop County, Oregon; Greater Muskegan, Michigan; Niagara Falls, New York; Spartanburg, South Carolina and Lake County.
The challenge was launched by the Health Initiative Coordinating Council (HICCup), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to community health. At its helm is angel investor Esther Dyson, who received an economics degree from Harvard in 1972 and has been named one of the most powerful women in business by Forbes magazine. Her resume is as impressive as it is eclectic: in addition to writing best-selling books and investing in companies that sold for tens of millions of dollars, she also trained as a backup cosmonaut in Russia from 2008 to 2009. Recently, her attention shifted to health.
“I thought, ”Wouldn”t it be great if someone held a contest to see how health could be improved in a few communities?”” Dyson said at the meeting. “And then I realized, who better to do it than me?” That”s how HICCup and the Way to Wellville were born in 2013.
The Way to Wellville is couched as a challenge because HICCup”s intention is to create “a healthy competition that creates the healthiest communities,” but the goal is that the “Wellville Five” — the five communities chosen to participate — will work together and learn from each other”s attempts to move the dial on the five health metrics.
The challenge officially kicks off in January 2015 and ends in December 2019. During those five years, each of the five communities will work toward making progress on five health indicators:
1. Health impact — e.g. reduction in diabetes and heart disease rates
2. Financial impact — e.g. health care cost per capita
3. Social/environmental context — e.g. reduced crime rates
4. Sustainability — e.g. health financing system, funding diversification
5. Local priorities — will be specific to each community; also called the “wild card”
In the meantime, each Wellville Five group is holding planning meetings to decide how Wellville will play out in their communities. In Lake County, there have been two significant meetings, plus hundreds of conversations and ideas shared among early adopters.
Although HICCup is not providing financial assistance, there may be a prize at the end as well as incentives throughout. The HICCup team will also help gather and analyze data, attract capital investment and train community members in entrepreneurship. In other words, the communities themselves must lead the charge, and HICCup will provide key support along the way.
Lake County a ”heavy lift”
Lake County would not have been considered for the Way to Wellville were it not for Susan Jen, director of Lake County”s Health Leadership Network.
According to Jen, the same priority recommendations have come up year after year in the community needs assessment, but little traction was gained.
“We have many programs working to address these priorities, but fixing them is a heavy lift,” Jen said. “It seemed that Wellville could help us think about lifting it together through aligned action.”
She wrote and submitted the Wellville application. “I looked at it and thought, ”This is a unique opportunity and I”m going to take it, because we have so many positive things happening that can factor into this.””
Her seize-the-day attitude paid off, and Lake County made it through the first level of applications. During the second level, HICCup asked for more information, including what other local programs could support the Wellville efforts. Jen highlighted the work of several organizations in the application, and connected with them to participate in the HICCup site visit in July.
The HICCup team”s trip included a visit to St. Helena Hospital, Clear Lake, where they learned about their Live Well program; toured North Coast Opportunities” (NCO) food bank and garden; saw Tribal Health”s diabetes program in action and learned about the Time Bank”s food processing project;
In August, the Wellville Five were announced, and representatives from each community attended a summit in September. In addition to Jen, NCO Executive Director Patty Bruder, St. Helena Hospital, Clear Lake CEO David Santos, then-county Superintendent of Schools Wally Holbrook and Superintendent of Konocti School District Donna Becnel participated in the Tampa, Florida conference on behalf of Lake County. Their organizations currently comprise the organizing nucleus for Wellville.
“The summit was really exciting. There”s a feeling that the way we do business is changing, and we need to figure it out together. It”s going to take every citizen — not just the service providers, but the whole community — to really turn things around, but it can be done,” Bruder said. “Now”s the time for Lake County.”
Jen also emphasizes the importance of collaboration to make Wellville work.
“We realize the value of teamwork and collective impact, so we don”t want it to be a top-down structure in terms of how it”s organized and implemented,” Jen said. “Everyone needs a chance to participate, and everyone”s opinion matters. We are coming together as many voices, but we need to speak with one voice to write the Wellville story together. Wellville belongs to everyone.”
What happened on Nov. 21?
The Nov. 21 meeting led by Jen, Dyson, HICCup CEO Rick Brush and Bay Area native and advisor Marvin Avilez. Designed as a summit to strategize what the Way to Wellville will look like in Lake County, it drew representatives from various community agencies and organizations, including health, and government agencies, banks and nonprofits. Potential partner businesses and organizations from around the country also attended; Wellville may be new, but it”s being watched closely by those who see its potential.
Brush started the day with a presentation on the current status of health in the country, pointing out that the U.S. spends $2.9 trillion per year on health care — 17 percent of the country”s GDP — with only 3 percent used for preventative care.
“We need to shift the market from the treatment of illness to the promotion of health,” Brush said, noting that a major focus of the Wellville challenge is to disrupt the health system to focus on prevention rather than treatment.
Health is tied to many factors, including one”s diet, social circle, employment opportunities and environment at large.
One common theme throughout the day was Clear Lake, with most participants agreeing that the health of the lake is a direct reflection of the health of the county.
Financial health for individuals and the county at large was probably the largest topic of the day. Brush and Avilez both spoke about social impact bonds or “Pay for Success” investment opportunities. This relatively new concept attracts values-oriented investors to proven projects that focus on doing social good. Avilez shared the results of a recent study that showed more than 50 percent of investment clients from major banks were interested in this kind of project, but that very few currently exist — an opportunity for the Wellville Five to present their programs to interested investors.
“The idea is that in addition to healthier communities, we become investable communities,” Jen said.
The day ended with a reflection on what had been discussed and what should come next.
“People are very open to this, and so far the public reception has been overwhelmingly positive,” Jen said to the audience. “We need to organize ourselves to realize the potential of this great undercurrent, and follow through on our best ideas.”
Many people spoke up, but perhaps none so enthusiastically as Josiah Phillips, a relatively recent transplant who says that the natural beauty and welcoming community of Lake County saved his life when he moved to the Cobb Mountain area this year. Phillips wasn”t sure what exactly he could do to help with Wellville, but he was up to the challenge. “I”m here to help, and there are a lot of talented people here who are ready to help, too,” Phillips said.
What”s next?
Jen invited each participating organization to make an announcement of the kick off in January in their own way to let people know that Wellville is here, their organization is part of it and the whole community will need to band together to make it succeed.
“We know that we have longstanding health statistics that aren”t improving in any dramatic way, and we all realize it”s going to take more than five years to make the significant changes we”re looking for, but we”re hoping Wellville will enable us to make a quantum leap forward,” Jen said. “There will be obstacles, and they will be hard to address. But working through them will show us that we can get through the tangles, and overcoming those challenges will make our efforts worthwhile.”
Elizabeth Archer is outreach coordinator for North Coast Opportunities.
