Service and Resource Sharing: Key Takeaways
Successes and benefits of service and resource sharing
Service and resource sharing partnerships can support the implementation of the Foundational Public Health Services (FPHS), both in Foundational Areas and Foundational Capabilities. Resource and service sharing has provided local health departments and partners the expanded capacity to conduct projects, implement programs, and/or access specialized subject matter expertise beyond what a local health department might have capacity to do alone. Other identified successes are shared on this page.
Expanding capacity and improving service delivery
Resource-sharing partnerships and mechanisms can help agencies expand their capacity and improve the delivery of public health services to their jurisdictions without solely relying on additional staffing.
Supporting specialized public health professions
Shared resources and programming can offer an opportunity to share the support of specialized public health professionals and increase agency capacity to conduct more comprehensive programs. This can open up opportunities for additional services that otherwise might be difficult to recruit for, fund, and sustain.
Reducing hiring competition
Shared partnerships and consortiums can allow multiple local health departments and partners to share the time of a full-time specialist and can reduce hiring competition in the region for that field. This is especially advantageous in rural regions, where recruitment for certain public health roles has been an ongoing challenge.
Reducing administrative burden
Shared partnerships and consortiums can also give access to resources and templates that significantly reduce administrative burden and result in more efficient, informed, and higher-quality service delivery than individual programming.
Coordinating services and increasing reach
Multi-jurisdictional partnerships can improve coordination of services spanning a larger population to maximize resource utilization. Additionally, these partnerships welcome information sharing of best practices for optimal service delivery.
Adapting to local contexts and needs
Resource sharing structures are adaptable to potential changes in statutory requirements, funding, membership, or other factors. Most multi-jurisdictional partnerships analyzed in the shared service structure environmental scan operate off of funding from each member jurisdiction, supporting needs as they arise. There is no correct or incorrect way to fund resource-sharing partnerships.
Challenges of service and resource sharing and resources to support these challenges
It has been well demonstrated that community wellbeing benefits from a functional, thriving public health system.
A common challenge in supporting a thriving public health system is providing public health services that meet the different needs between communities. Of the 84 local health departments (LHDs) in Wisconsin, 52% serve rural counties (as defined by the 2023 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Rural-Urban Continuum Code categorization). Many of these rural health departments serve small populations—23 LHDs serve rural designated counties and have a service population size less than 24,999. These local health departments may experience resource gaps or have difficulties recruiting and retaining a qualified public health workforce, especially for specialized positions.
Agencies that have engaged in some type of resource-sharing collaboration or partnership have identified common challenges, as detailed in the content that follows.
Determining the funding structure
When tax levies and shared funding are involved, extensive negotiations with member jurisdictions are needed to ensure equitable and consistent contribution and compromise from all parties.
Negotiating, developing, and navigating shared funding structures can create barriers and prove to be one of the most challenging components of service and resource sharing.
Navigating funding changes
Changes in state or grant funding can have a significant impact on the sustainability and long-term effectiveness of service and resource sharing partnerships and relationships.
A lack of sustained funding has been identified as a consistent problem in dissolved or unsuccessful partnerships.
Working with limited staff capacity
It can be difficult for member jurisdictions within a shared partnership to participate in consortiums and other resource-sharing partnerships. This is especially true for smaller local health departments with staff who are already stretched to their capacity.
Maintaining partnerships
Turnover in health department staff and local government represents a challenge in maintaining partnerships. Changes in priorities or local health department budgets may lead member jurisdictions to drop out of the program or change their level of involvement.