Mission & Vision
Our Mission
To foster coordination and collaboration within and across sectors on interventions that build and maintain conditions for sustained community health and well-being.
Our Vision
We envision a Greater Philadelphia that promotes well-being for all community members.
Our Values
Our values guide how COACH pursues our mission and vision.
Our Story
COACH is sponsored by the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) and supported by contributions from health systems. From its inception through June 2025, the initiative was facilitated by the Health Care Improvement Foundation (HCIF). As of July 2025, facilitation of COACH transitioned to HAP. Additional support has been provided by the Dolfinger McMahon Foundation (December 2017–December 2018 and December 2019–December 2020) and the Leo & Peggy Pierce Foundation (October 2018–October 2020).
Meet Our Team
RobERT Shipp
Vice President, workforce and Clinical Affairs
Beth Murray
project manager, workforce and clinical affairs
Lauren Geary
senior director, clinical affairs
FAQs
The full COACH membership meets approximately three times per year and as needed. COACH also convenes subgroups for regular sessions to support specific activities. For example, the Food Insecurity workgroup currently meets on a recurrent basis.
COACH participants are expected to establish a core team of representatives to attend COACH meetings and participate in coordinated activities related to our core focal areas of food insecurity and trauma-informed care and practice. Participation in these activities includes intervention planning, implementation, evaluation, and promotion within a participating institution, as well as sharing best practices or lessons learned with fellow COACH participants. Additionally, participants are encouraged to build partnerships with other COACH participants that further work in our priority focal areas by testing models of coordination, creating system efficiencies, and advancing communication across sectors.
COACH participants prioritize shared intervention strategies based on needs identified in hospital and health system Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs). These needs are evaluated by severity, feasibility, and the potential impact of collaboration. Resulting strategies are included in hospitals’ CHNA implementation plans.
In 2019, hospitals and health systems conducted the first coordinated regional CHNA (rCNA), repeated in 2022 and again in 2025. Key partners included the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, the Health Care Improvement Foundation, local health departments, and community organizations. Many COACH members took part in this initiative. The 2025 southeast PA rCNA can be found here: 2025 rCHNA
COACH supports activities to address food insecurity and promote trauma-informed, healing-centered care and practice. Read more about our work in these areas here.
COACH celebrates cross-sector collaboration. COACH participants currently include hospitals and health systems, community-based organizations, public health and government agencies, and insurers in the Greater Philadelphia area. Please fill out this Contact Form if you’re interested in participating.
Please fill out this Contact Form if you’re interested in learning more.
Contributions have been required of all hospital and health system participants. Please fill out this Contact Form for more information.
Our Partners
Our coalition is actively growing and always looking for new partners! Our current participants include:
6 health system teams:
- Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
- Jefferson Health – Central
- Jefferson Health – North
- Main Line Health
- Penn Medicine
- Trinity Health
Partners from public health and community health:
- Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
- Food Connect
- Greener Partners
- Health Promotion Council
- Hopeworks
- MANNA
- NAMI-National Alliance on Mental Illness Philadelphia
- Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations
- Philadelphia Department of Public Health
- Share Food Program
- Together for West Philadelphia
- Uplifme
- Montgomery County Office of Public Health
- Socially Healthy
We’re Happy To Help
