Several rural counties in south-central Kansas are pooling resources in order to make a larger impact on health. By working together, these counties are able to deliver public health services effectively and efficiently.
Barber, Comanche, Edwards, Harper, Kingman, Kiowa and Pratt Counties collaborate through the South Central Kansas Coalition for Public Health (SKCPH). While each county has its own health department, they work together through the SKCPH to offer three shared public health programs in the region: family planning, emergency preparedness and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Each program is offered in all seven counties, but only one county must provide the administrative oversight for each program. This reduces the administrative burden on the other health departments while allowing the staff coordinating the program to become specialists in each program area.
The counties and health departments receive many benefits through the sharing arrangement, such as more efficient administration of the shared programs and increased collaboration and knowledge transfer between the counties.
The Kansas Health Institute has prepared a case study about the SKCPH because the collaboration provides a good example of how counties can work together to deliver public health services effectively and efficiently.