Delta Center Initiative
CPCA is honored to be one of eight statewide associations participating in the Delta Center California, a 2.5-year initiative that brings together behavioral health and primary care leaders to accelerate care improvement and integration in Medi-Cal through policy and practice change. Delta Center California aims to advance health policy solutions and create a care system that better meets the goals and needs of individuals and families and addresses racial and economic disparities.
Delta Center is supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and will run through December 2022. Delta Center of California was inspired by the model of the Delta Center for a Thriving Safety Net, a national RWJF-funded initiative that launched in 2017, which funded and convened national and state associations representing health centers and behavioral health organizations in 12 states to advance policy and practice change. California, with its unique policy environment, is launching its own effort.
Both CHCF and RWJF recognized the potential to give California’s state associations, representing primary care and behavioral health providers and payers, a neutral venue to identify and explore policy changes to facilitate integrated care in Medi-Cal. The initiative would also provide a forum for the state associations to explore implementation opportunities and challenges associated with CalAIM, the multi-year process led by the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to improve the health outcomes and quality of life experienced by Medi-Cal patients.
CPCA’s Vice President of Government Affairs, Andie Patterson, and Deputy Director of Quality Improvement, Allie Budenz, will represent health centers on the State Policy and Partnership Roundtable with nine state-level partners. Delta Center will also host a 16-month Learning Lab bringing together local provider-payer teams and state partners. Learning Lab local teams will be selected and funded through a competitive proposal process in 2021. The initiative will also have an Advisory Group with representatives from our state-level partners, CHCF, the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, and other California thought leaders.
"I'm excited about the opportunity for statewide associations to come together and set an agenda, together, about the future of the integrated care delivery system,” said Allie Budenz, Deputy Director of Quality Improvement at the California Primary Care Association. “It's not something that we often get to do and it's a great chance to learn from each other and to grow with each other."
California organizations representing and supporting health centers and behavioral health providers and payers acknowledge and salute the importance of advancing policy and practice change using a lens of how such changes can advance racial equity in the state.
"I'm most looking forward to working in a collaborative way with other behavioral health leaders in the context and through the lens of racial equity,” said Percy Howard, President and CEO at the California Institute For Behavioral Health Solutions. “Without this, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for us to achieve our health equity goals for all Californians."
For more information on the Delta Center and to see a list of the organizations participating on the State Policy & Partnership Roundtable, visit deltacentercalifornia.jsi.com .