HRSA/MCHB 2005 FEDERAL/STATE PARTNERSHIP MEETING

PUBLIC HEALTH ACROSS THE LIFESPAN

AMCHP

PETER SYBINSKY: Thanks, Jeff. Implications of our strategic plan are basic. When you put together a strategic plan, it is often a very difficult process because you've got conflicting ideas and goals that need to be match up, worked out, developed into some consistent policies and procedures. And the strategic planning process that we've gone through has done that. And now I think comes the real fun part that is building the development of an organization that's responsive and efficient and effective. And the implications, I think, of the strategic planning process result from the decisions that were made. First of all, there's a greater emphasis on states and state programs. Our members are states. And our unique position as an organization is unique because we represent that very vital part of maternal and child health that's based in state systems.

Our second major forward looking direction is that we're increasing our focus on member needs and service and involvement. There's been a very, very strong feeling during this process that members need to make sure or members need to be comfortable that their needs are being met and that they're involved. Involvement helps to ensure that their needs are going to be met.

The pivotal role with partners is another vital aspect of the organization's future. AMCHP looking back at its historic relationships has been strong because of its many partnerships with the federal partners, with private organizations in the community, with professional organizations. And these partnerships have worked together for Maternal Child Health and our future has to have that involved as well.

The plan provides more prominence to the directions that we're taking through our work with the bureau, and that is measurement, accountability and showing impact. Just the same things that you, our members, have to show we took have to show that we're effective, accountable and improving what we do or improving our outcomes through what we do.

And finally, as we reach the final stages of the strategic process, we came into a very good confluence, because we were touching up and finalizing our cooperative agreement, and the two of these documents are very much in line with the directions of this strategic plan and all of these things are lined up and ready to go.

One of the major things that we have done is as we've been touching up the plan and getting it ready for the road, is we have been beginning some activities and beginning to flesh out those directions. These are not the entire directions of the plan, they're many yesterday to come. But the major directions that have fleshed out so far are first better communications. We reflect through our work, I think we have to reflect through our work the need to better represent our people in the regions and to try to help out with insuring that each region has an adequate input and gets as much information as they can to enable them to do their jobs.

The board will be appointing a communications task force to study more general communications of AMCHP and look more thoroughly with all communications, media we have, and the many techniques and issues that are involved in developing a communications plan that will reflect the strategic plan.

We're going to, as we've been doing, enhance our annual conference to make it more valuable to members and partners, and we want to EMS more face to face member involvement, whether it be through meetings, developing some ways that we can meet more frequently with one another, or developing ways so we can peer to peer, serve each other by sharing knowledge and information on a one‑to‑one basis.

A second major direction is reorganization of the structure of AMCHP. The focus of this reorganization, which has been under the authority of a board and staff combined transformation task force, is to restructure and better serve the members, to be able to, through our structure and organizational aspects of AMCHP, expect peer to peer mentoring, technical change and all the other things that can be valuable to you.

We also have developing better partnerships, closer collaboration with the Maternal and Child Health Bureau in the last year we've been developing work groups with leadership of the bureau and our own AMCHP leadership to flesh out what we need to do to improve our relationship and building upon it so that we're enhancing and synergising each other's work. And we've restructured a cooperative agreement with the bureau so again it's going to be more beneficially mutual.

We're going out to the private sector, our partners in the past and in the future to look at the strategic level, the level of the CEO, level of the board, and to interact around central goals and needs and to work together with high priority partners to coordinate work at the national level, to enhance your work in collaborating with those organizations at the state level and just in general enhancing our communications. Performance measurement has begun, not in actual measurement, but in developing those measures. And in fleshing out what will be an accountability plan for both the board as well as our partners. And finally, there is a lot to do. We're going to be involving members and partners as much as possible in creating and fleshing out the rest of this plan.

I'd like to thank Peter and John and Cassie, and all of you for the opportunity to speak today and to help in the important work of ensuring the health and welfare of women and children across the country. Thanks again.