SEARHC and Sitka Community Hospital were meeting regularly to find ways to collaborate better and provide higher quality of health care for community. Hospital leaders came upon the idea of a health summit to begin truly building bridges to collaboration. They invited several key community leaders, and Steps to a Healthier Southeast Alaska, a grant-funded project sponsored by SEARHC, provided some funding.

The goal was to build bridges between hospitals and different types of medicine, provide a unifying health message around prevention, create a time of celebration by honoring groups and individuals for their work toward health, and plan to make realistic steps to advance the vision “to serve our great state as a model for community wellness by creating a healthy community where Sitkans strive for and enjoy a high quality of life.”

Using a bridge in the logo is a reminder of the importance of building bridges in our community between health and wellness providers.

Vision

To serve our great state as a model for community wellness by creating a healthy community where Sitkans strive for and enjoy a high quality of life.

Goals

• Build new bridges in the community for wellness.
• Create a time of celebration by honoring groups and individuals for their work toward health.
• Provide a unifying health message around wellness.
• Make realistic plans toward the vision.

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Community wellness champions from all walks of life were honored at the Community Dinner for the work they’ve done making Sitka a healthier place to live.

Community members nominate people who have made a difference when it comes to wellness, and an awards committee from the Sitka Health Summit decided on the final recipients. One individual and one group are honored in each of the six categories:

• physical activity
• nutrition, safety/injury prevention
• tobacco prevention/control
• holistic health, and
• general wellness

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A key component of the Health Summit is the planning session. Here participants start with brainstormed ideas (inspired by the preceding days’ presentations) and work to identify just a few key goals to work toward for the next year. The current "Headlines" for the Health Summit tracks what has been going on in each priority area through the year.

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