Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

Hermosa Vida at North Country HealthCare--Flagstaff, AZ

North Country HealthCare is a federally qualified health center serving fourteen communities in northern Arizona. In 2010, North Country received a grant from the Kresge Foundation to create a program called Hermosa Vida that works upstream to improve the community’s health outcomes. Hermosa Vida does this by reducing barriers and increasing access to resources that allow people to live healthy lives. After talking directly with many residents, a community health worker realized that the residents’ main concern was not access to physical activity or healthy eating, but rather a serious housing issue they faced. Treating housing as a social determinant of health, North Country expanded its focus and engaged the community to address the issue. 

This case study is provided by Active Living By Design, an organization that delivers multidisciplinary expertise in public health, public policy, urban planning and design, community development, communications, nutrition, architecture and social work.