The New Bedford (NB) Health Department is utilizing innovative, entrepreneurial approaches to transform a traditional local public health system to one that aligns more closely with national health care reform and the Affordable Care Act. The transformation of health in New Bedford is a story of innovation and hope – it is happening here and it can happen anywhere. The health transformation is evident in the many partnerships and initiatives with local health leaders at the Southcoast Hospital System (SHS), NB Public Schools, Mass in Motion program, and others. Once a world-renowned whaling port, the “Whaling City” has endured tough economic times over the past decades. Today, it is undergoing a formidable rebuilding and redesigning of its infrastructure, underscored by health, to promote a healthy lifestyle and an aesthetically-pleasing environment that attracts tourists and visitors and grows the economy.
www.newbedford-ma.gov/health-department
Social Media Lab at the APHA 2014 Meeting
APHA 2014