Press Release - California ACH Week Spotlights Trusted Community Infrastructure for Health
Oct. 19-23 event unites 36 Accountable Communities for Health across 27 counties under “One Network, Many Voices”
The inaugural California ACH Week takes place October 19-23, bringing together 36 Accountable Communities for Health across 27 counties for five days of stories, events, and knowledge sharing under the theme “One Network, Many Voices.”
Accountable Communities for Health (ACHs) are multisector partnerships that bring together residents, community organizations, clinics, hospitals, schools, public health departments and county agencies to identify and act on shared priorities. Serving communities across California, from rural to urban, their work includes long-term efforts focused on youth, aging, violence prevention, housing, behavioral health and disease prevention, as well as rapid response to wildfires, COVID-19, and the impacts of increased immigration enforcement on communities.
Across the network, ACHs provide trusted local infrastructure for communities and institutions to work together over time by building trust, coordinating care and prevention, changing policy and practice, shaping community health assessments and improvement plans and creating mechanisms, such as wellness funds, that direct resources toward community-defined priorities. Together, the 36 ACHs form a statewide layer of community-based infrastructure that connects local knowledge, relationships and priorities with the systems and institutions that shape health.
California ACH Week is led by the California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative (CACHI), the statewide organization that strengthens California’s ACH network through statewide and regional convenings, peer learning, technical assistance, funding and strategic support.
“Communities already have the knowledge, relationships and leadership to understand what is happening locally and what needs to change. ACHs help turn that local knowledge into coordinated action across sectors, and ACH Week is an opportunity to celebrate and make that work visible across California,” said Rea Pañares, Executive Director of CACHI.
Each day highlights a different dimension of the work:
Monday, October 19: California Stories - Residents, youth and partners share what is changing in their communities.
Tuesday, October 20: Building Trust - How relationships built for long-term collaboration make coordinated action possible.
Wednesday, October 21: Better Together - How residents, health care, public health and community organizations align priorities and resources.
Thursday, October 22: What We Build Next - How communities can help shape California’s future health priorities.
Friday, October 23: Transformation - A look at a decade of ACH practice and how systems, agencies, and communities have changed how they work together.
On Thursday, October 22, from 12 to 1:30 p.m. PT, CACHI will host the week’s featured webinar, “Shaping the Future of California’s Health,” a free public conversation on what communities are navigating today and what it will take for communities to help shape health-system and state priorities going forward.
Learn more and view a map of all 36 ACHs at californiaachweek.org.About CCHI
The California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative (CACHI) is driving a statewide shift in how health systems, social services, community organizations and residents collaborate to improve population health and equity. Through multisector, community-based partnerships - Accountable Communities for Health (ACHs) — in 36 communities across the state — CACHI aligns local resources, policies and investments to tackle the root causes of health disparities.
Media Contact
Lynea Diaz-Hagan, CACHI
connect@cachi.org, 310-699-6022