SD26 - Creation of the Virginia Center for Community Health


Executive Summary:
The report contained herein is pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 157 and House Joint Resolution 260, agreed to by the 2000 General Assembly.

This report provides an update on the creation of the Virginia Center for Community Health (Center). The development of the Center was a primary recommendation from the Virginia Turning Point initiative, a strategic planning effort aimed at strengthening public health in the 21st century.

Turning Point brought together representatives from a variety of sectors essential to improving the health of Virginians. Their vision was the creation of an autonomous not-for-profit organization that could sustain the public-private partnership gains made through Turning Point and seeks to support and strengthen community health improvement efforts around the Commonwealth.

Enclosed, please find a short summary of the efforts to formulate a vision, mission and values as well as specific projects we hope to accomplish in the first year. In addition, we have engaged pro bono legal counsel to guide the Center through the incorporation process at the state and federal level.

Respectfully Submitted,

E. Anne Peterson, MD, MPH
State Health Commissioner