Let’s get people where they need to go!

By
Patty Cantrell
August 29, 2019

West central Missouri’s Rides to Health and Wealth Network recently held a planning workshop with participants from sectors spanning health care, education, the courts, local government, and senior and social services. Their insights helped inform and advance this collaborative approach to getting people in the region where they need to go!

The Rides to Health and Wealth Network is a commitment by nine partners (see list below) to organize a shared regional approach to connecting, supporting, and growing west central Missouri’s transportation resources.

The Network has received a federal planning grant to both build the Rides to Health and Wealth Network and explore bringing the Missouri Rural Health Association’s HealthTran service to west central Missouri.

Lead partner West Central Missouri Community Action Agency will coordinate the planning effort along with affiliate community development corporation New Growth.

Next Steps. The process from September, 2019, to June, 2020, will include:

  • Ongoing input. Committees will help develop a strategic plan. Regular network calls will keep everyone in the loop.
  • Network gatherings. Partners and stakeholders will come together February 19 and April 16, 2020, to review progress and inform next steps.
  • Community mobility coordination. The Network will also begin identifying and engaging organizations, communities, transportation providers, and funders that are ready to work with the HealthTran model in west central Missouri.

The Aug. 27, 2019, planning workshop introduced the “mobility management” approach to aligning and advancing transportation resources. It demonstrated how MRHA’s HealthTran system accomplishes mobility management.

Participants took stock of transportation challenges and possibilities. They also mapped the transportation “value chain” of demand, supply, and support partners that could come together in west central Missouri for mobility management success.

Download workshop slides.

The Rides to Health and Wealth Network planning workshop confirmed west central Missouri has the partners, the knowledge, and the will to get rolling!

For more information, or to get involved, contact network planning manager Kelly Ast at West Central Missouri Community Action Agency, 660-1-660-476-5997 x1312, or kast@wcmcaa.org.

Rides to Health and Wealth Network partners
Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare
Kaysinger Basin Regional Planning Commission
Nevada Regional Medical Center
New Growth
On My Own
Polk County Health Department
Vernon County Health Department
Vernon County Ambulance District
West Central Missouri Community Action Agency