About the Hospital Community Collaborative

Our Mission

The HCC strives to promote community health and development by connecting people, ideas and resources, and create the next generation of sustainable clinical-community partnerships in the process.

What Is the Hospital Community Collaborative?

The AHA Hospital Community Collaborative (HCC) works to strengthen strengthen connections between hospitals and community organizations to improve health outcomes and advance health equity in their communities.

As both an online partnership education program and a national network of community health practitioners, the HCC promotes collaboration, data-driven decision-making and the strategic use of community resources — all to strengthen working relationships between hospitals and partnering community organizations to improve patient populations’ health and well-being.

In addition to providing access to relevant research, tools and field-tested exercises that help strengthen partnerships, the HCC also includes opportunities for networking, coaching and collaboration with others doing similar work across the country.

In 2024, the HCC was refined as an asynchronous digital learning platform, allowing for users to complete the program and its activities at their own pace.

There are three foundational components to HCC:

1. Upon starting the program, hospital and community partner teams commit to working together to align strategies and resources with protected time for engaged collaboration.
2. Once involved, curated tools and resources help teams build foundational capabilities and tackle problems together.
3. s work progresses, a national network of peers, along with advice from community health experts, can provide teams with interactive guidance as needed.

At its core, the HCC is built for two or more organizations to complete the program together. However, as a go- at-your-own-pace learning platform, the HCC is capable of accommodating individual users who wish to gain partnership-building skills and practice their learnings with a partner organization at a later date.

History

HCC’s national program was originally built as a six-month learning sprint that consisted of 20 hospital-community teams across the U.S. Separately, HCC’s state program, which began in New Jersey in 2022, comprises hospitals and their community partners based in one state and focuses on a year-long learning sprint dedicated to promoting and expanding digital health equity.

The Hospital Community Collaborative program is now delivered online in a go-at-your-own pace asynchronous learning model. Now in its third year, this new model provides greater access to the comprehensive strategic partnership training program, specifically for hospital-based and health system-based community health professionals and their community partners.

HCC’s learning lab approach informs and nurtures the development of hospital-community partnerships, encourages peer-to-peer knowledge exchanges and sets the foundation for success. Key topics that the HCC covers include principles and tactics for successful partnerships; data sources, collection and analytics; strengthening community engagement and trust building; crafting the business case for leadership; and community investment and funding opportunities.

HCC’s Evolution

HCC’s original model was developed around a national cohort of hospital and community partnership teams, consisting of leaders from each side, who would complete the program within a scheduled six-month time frame. Work was supported by scheduled live group sessions and coaching opportunities with subject matter experts, as well as access to a series of program modules featuring tools and exercises that teams would complete on their own time.

The HCC began with a yearlong pilot cohort in 2018 with funding from the Aetna Foundation. Following a pause in programming due to the pandemic, the HCC then returned to form with support from the Novartis US Foundation in late 2020. With a newly revised curriculum, the HCC grew to host two national cohorts, in 2021 and 2022. A state cohort focused on hospital-community partnerships in New Jersey also emerged during that time.

These cohorts helped create a national network of alumni who have helped the AHA refine the HCC experience for a new era.

• 2018 - HCC’s pilot program launches, and brings participants to Chicago for an in- person Learning Lab kickoff event.
• 2019 - Pilot cohort programming continues throughout the year.
• 2020 - Programming is paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 2021 - Launch of HCC’s first virtual, six-month national cohort.
• 2022 - Launch of a second six-month national cohort and a 12-month New Jersey state cohort.
• 2024 - New Jersey cohort ends; the HCC is redeveloped and launched as an asynchronous learning experience.