Examples of these initiatives include our Contract for Care program, the Franklin Health Access Project , the HeartWarmer s project, Peace in Our Families initiative, and the Growing Healthy Families program. This listing is but a small sample of literally hundreds of innovative efforts large and small that we launched to improve the health of the citizens we serve. Outreach is extremely important. It is important to find ways to reach out and connect with people in their homes and workplaces. We have found it important to use a variety of techniques to do this, including such things as Hands on Health , community health advocates, the mobile health van, HeartWarmers , and the many task forces of the Healthy Community Coalition.
Special efforts are necessary to reach the poor and powerless.
In Maine where rural conditions are common and the burden of high healthcare costs is high, it is important for providers to use diverse methods to reach out to offer health services to people in a dignified, accessible manner. These types of locally driven efforts statewide should be encouraged and funded. Community involvement and accountability at the local level are essential to a vibrant and relevant response to local health needs. Our board structures are complex and diverse so that we achieve a high degree of community involvement. We base decisions on what best serves the public, not what best serves our corporations.