Center for Community Outreach
Overview
Outreach—Looking Beyond Clinic Walls
Improving the health of an entire community goes beyond doctor-patient visits.
Marshfield Clinic recognized that when it created the Center for Community Outreach in 1998 to work from inside medical practice and within communities to address community health issues.
The Center for Community Outreach (CCO) partners with Clinic centers and community coalitions to support community health improvement processes and plans.
This work reflects Marshfield Clinic’s broad concept of health care, which includes looking beyond Clinic walls at medical and non-medical issues that can have a significant effect on quality of life for all residents of a community.
CCO supports evidence-based strategies that address health priorities identified by Wisconsin’s health plan, “Healthiest Wisconsin 2010: A Partnership Plan to Improve the Health of the Public.”
Each of these priorities significantly affect medical conditions and can be leveraged to improve the overall health of people within our system of care.
Health priorities addressed through CCO’s programs are:
- Alcohol and other substance use and addiction
- High-risk sexual behavior
- Overweight, obesity and lack of physical activity
- Tobacco use and exposure
- Access to primary and preventive health services
Purpose
The Center for Community Outreach assists in developing healthy environments that foster resilient, successful children, youth and families; serves as a catalyst for program design and development; and provides technical assistance and consultation, education, training and resources.
