Elevate Health’s Pathways Community HUB Achieves Certification Enhancing the Community Health Workforce

TACOMA, WASHINGTON — Elevate Health’s Pathways Community HUB (HUB) is now recognized and certified by the Pathways Community HUB Institute (PCHI) with a Level-I designation making it the first of its kind to be certified in Washington state. The Pathways Community HUB is an evidence-based model for care coordination leveraging community health workers. Community health workers are at the front line serving as a liaison between health, wellness and social services in a community. They are a key workforce to facilitate client access to services by possessing a deep understanding of the communities they serve.

Community health workers are often peers and reflect the clients they serve. They are a critical member of the healthcare team and community at large by connecting clients to health care, housing, food stability, education, employment and more.

Achieving a Level-I designation means the Pathways Community HUB meets the national standards for quality community care coordination services and is committed to pursuing excellence around the certification standards upheld by PCHI. Certification is also a value-add to promote the community health worker workforce and bring a clearer definition around their scope in contract to other healthcare workforce members. The two-year term of certification is a result of rigorous peer review process wherein Elevate Health’s Pathways Community HUB demonstrated to assessors its commitment to offering programs and services that are measurable, accountable, and of the highest quality as outlined in the Pathways Community HUB Model.

“We are proud to be the first Accountable Community of Health in the state of Washington acknowledged with a Level-I designation,” said CEO Alisha Fehrenbacher. “It affirms the quality, competence, training and effectiveness of our HUB while confirming the value we provide to the community. By helping to identify people most at risk we are able to connect them to the services that will help them live healthier lives and reduce the costs surrounding health care in our region.”

A certified Pathways Community HUB serves as a centralized resource for at-risk populations who have health care and social service needs, such as housing, food, employment and transportation. Elevate Health launched its pilot Pathways Community HUB in March of 2018 focusing on two distinct population groups: 1) adults or children with two or more health conditions who are eligible for or enrolled in Medicaid; and 2) at-risk pregnant women who are eligible or enrolled in Medicaid.

Elevate Health incorporated feedback from community members and tailored the HUB model to fit the populations it wanted to reach and support in Pierce County. As a result, Elevate Health established two now certified programs. The first, Get Well with Wellness First, addresses Medicaid beneficiaries who have multiple chronic disease or health issues and need information or assistance around navigating the health system, including employment, educational opportunities and additional services. The second, Passage 2 Motherhood, connects Medicaid beneficiaries experiencing high-risk pregnancies with resources and assistance for social services, health insurance, medical home, and other services.

Elevate Health’s Pathways Community HUB works directly with the following partners in Pierce County:

• Korean Women’s Association of Washington, a nonprofit organization creating safe and accessible programs that best serve our communities.
• Tacoma- Pierce County Health Department, dedicated to protecting and improving the health of all people and places in Pierce County.
• Hope Sparks Family Services, is a recognized leader in Pierce County in behavioral health, early intervention, kinship care, home visiting, eating recovery and parent education.
• Sea Mar Community Health Centers, a Washington public benefit corporation that provides comprehensive health, housing and cultural services to diverse communities, specializing in services to all ethnicities and populations.
• Community Health Care, a private, non-profit organization created in 1987 when the clinic system moved from the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department to become a stand-alone set of clinics with a mission to provide the highest quality healthcare with compassionate and accessible service for all.

The Pathways Community HUB Certification Program was founded in 2015 as the nation’s only certifying body for community care coordination HUBs. The PCHI is a nonprofit certification organization that serves a broad range of community care coordination service networks.