Preserving Public Health, Promoting Population Health
Authority Health is a public body corporate that was created by the State of Michigan, Wayne County, and City of Detroit to support the public health infrastructure and create a community health network. We serve as the nexus for the various components that comprise the health community that otherwise are not naturally linked.
Through our coordination of community health resources, collaborative initiatives, and learning environment, we offer the community a place through which innovative solutions for population health can thrive.
More About Authority Health
» What We Do
Authority Health is a public body corporate that operates under an InterLocal Agreement between the State of Michigan, Wayne County, and City of Detroit. (You can read the agreement in the Documents section of this website.) Authority Health serves as an extension of the state, county, and municipal health departments, offering support for planning, program development, health benefit enrollment, and workforce development.
Authority Health is governed by a Board of Directors that reflects an equal balance of state, county, and municipal appointees. The InterLocal Agreement calls for two levels of oversight: A Community Advisory Committee, comprised of health and human service administrators reflecting issues relevant to the grassroots community, and a Provider Advisory Committee, comprised of health system executives. Two additional semi-autonomous councils are staffed by Authority Health: a Primary Care Network Council, representatives of community health centers, free clinics, private medical practices, and other stakeholders of primary care; and a Population Health Council, a group of public health professionals, community health advocates, environmental quality advocates, community development professionals, and other stakeholders.
A health authority, like a building authority or port authority is charged with administering functions across geographic and political jurisdiction. The core functions of Authority Health are:
- Enrollment: Authority Health is a navigation agency offering enrollment and other navigation services for Medicaid, Healthy Michigan, CHIP, and Medicare programs. It is also a training agency for certified assistance counselors. For more information on this service contact Cheryl Porter-Hawkins at cporter@authorityhealth.org .
- Capacity Expansion/Primary Care Coordination: The vision for integrated primary care includes expanding community health centers and free clinics, and establishing wellness centers for community-based management of chronic disease and promoting maternal health. This process is coordinated through the Primary Care Network Council.
- Workforce development: Authority Health sponsors the nation’s second largest teaching health center, known as Authority Health GME Consortium, providing training experiences for medical residents in six primary care specialties: family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychology, and a fellowship in geriatrics. For information on Authority Health GME Consortium contact Josie Llaneza at jllaneza@authorityhealth.org. Authority Health also supports various other health professional training opportunities.
- Community health research and analytics: As a neutral site for community engagement, Authority Health promotes community health planning through the Detroit-Wayne County Health Improvement Plans Initiative, as well as individual data analytical services. For information contact Dennis Archambault at darchambault@authorityhealth.org.
- Population Health Council: All administrative and advisory processes within the Health Authority are channeled through the Population Health Council, which is a leadership body charged with developing policy recommendations around community health improvement, specifically in relation to the County Health Rankings. The Council is comprised not only of key stakeholders, but also leadership from the other advisory groups. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation underwrites the Population Health Council fellowship, annual state of population health report and educational forum, and administrative expenses.