Cherry Street Health Services and Altarum Institute Launch Partnership to Implement Integrated Chronic Care Model.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Grand Rapids-based Cherry Street Health Services (CSHS) and Altarum Institute have announced a unique partnership designed to improve patient care and support the implementation of CSHS's integrated chronic care model.

During the year-and-a-half long project, Altarum staff will work directly with CSHS to support the center's efforts to employ a team-based approach to managing chronic health conditions. CSHS's multidisciplinary chronic care model aims to achieve full integration of behavioral health and primary health care services.

"This partnership is an opportunity for CSHS to move our focus on patients with combination chronic physical and behavioral health diseases. With the expertise of Altarum, we will unite professional staff towards a unified treatment plan in which differences between medical and behavioral components will be nearly transparent," said Chris Shea, Executive Director of Cherry Street Health Services.

The partnership with CSHS is a part of Altarum's Community Health Center Innovation Mission Project Initiative. The Innovation Mission Project Initiative is a two-year, multi-million dollar collaborative philanthropy effort in which Altarum assists select community health centers improve patient care in innovative ways by contributing staff expertise directly to the centers. In addition to CSHS, Altarum is partnering with three other Federally Qualified Health Centers around the country.

"During a time of great debate about the health care system in our nation, we recognize that community health centers like Cherry Street Health Services are an extraordinary example of something that is working well in the American health care system," said Lincoln Smith, President and CEO of Altarum. "By directly combining Altarum-funded consulting expertise with Cherry Street Health Services' focus on patients, we hope not only to improve the care for the thousands of patients they serve, but learn some lessons that can be shared with other community health centers around the country. Altarum is very excited about this mission project and we thank Cherry Street Health Services for joining with us in this effort."

The mission of Cherry Street Health Services centers around a commitment to provide the highest quality and most effective primary health care services to people of all economic levels with a special sensitivity to the needs of economically disadvantaged people of diverse cultural backgrounds. Cherry Street Health Services' holistic care will meet the physical and behavioral health needs of those served by removing barriers to healthcare, promoting prevention, personal responsibility, interdisciplinary treatment, health education, and collaboration with other community partners.

Altarum Institute (www.altarum.org) integrates objective research and client-centered consulting skills to deliver comprehensive, systems-based solutions that improve health and health care. A nonprofit serving clients in the public and private sectors, Altarum employs more than 350 individuals and is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan with additional offices in the Washington, D.C. area; Atlanta, Georgia; Portland, Maine; and San Antonio, Texas.

This week, August 9-15, is "National Health Center Week." Sponsored by the National Association of Community Health Centers, the week is dedicated to recognizing the service and contributions of Community, Migrant, Homeless, and Public Housing Health Centers in providing access to affordable, high quality, cost-effective health care to medically vulnerable and underserved people in the U.S.