San Francisco is ranked 23rd in health outcomes among California’s 57 counties.
In an effort to improve health and health equity in the city, Mayor Ed Lee has announced the expansion and alignment of three successful community health collaboratives into one body, now known as the San Francisco Health Improvement Partnership (SFHIP).
SFHIP builds off the existing program administered by the Community Engagement and Health Policy program at UC San Francisco’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and facilitated in collaboration with community partners and the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH). The newly formed entity brings in two other existing collaboratives:
- Building a Healthier San Francisco (BHSF) and Community Benefit Partnership (CBP) programs, efforts spearheaded by San Francisco’s non-profit hospitals and SFDPH in conjunction with wide-ranging community partners; and
- SFDPH through the Public Health Accreditation Board and its community health improvement process.
Recognizing the original SFHIP program as a prototype of successful community engagement and collective impact principles, leaders of this new citywide effort adopted the name. 
“SFHIP brings together three successful efforts into one, unified vision with a shared purpose,” said Abbie Yant, RN, MA, vice president of Mission, Advocacy and Community Health at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital and member of SFHIP’s steering committee.
Collective Impact Model
Over the past year, SFDPH joined with these collaboratives to develop a Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) as a part of its 14-month community health assessment that engaged community residents and health partners to define, measure and “move the needle” on select community-identified health priorities.
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