About

Picture of the state of Michigan. The Community Health Innovation Region (CHIR) is a unique model for improving the wellbeing of a region and reducing unecessary medical costs through collaboration and systems change. CHIRs engage a broad group of stakeholders to identify and address factors that affect residents’ health, such as housing, transportation, and food insecurity, as well as access to high-quality medical care. The CHIR model creates a neutral space for partners to unite around a common vision, aligning their objectives and services to meet the needs of the community. The result is a community that is purposeful in its response to residents’ needs, creating conditions that meaningfully support an individual’s ability to have a higher, more productive quality of life.

CHIR partners are organized by a neutral backbone organization that facilitates the development and implementation of key strategies, creating the necessary capacity to sustain progress on stated objectives. CHIR steering committees provide a clear leadership structure and promote shared accountability among partners for aligning their resources to address priority community health needs. It takes a comprehensive group of committed organizations to meet the needs of a community. No one entity can do this alone.

The State has selected five Michigan regions to test the CHIR model. Each of the five regions is supported by a backbone organization that serves as a fiduciary and acts as a neutral convener for the CHIR’s governing body. Michigan's CHIRs are: 

Community Backbone Organization
Genesee County Greater Flint Health Coalition
Jackson County Jackson Health Improvement Organization
Livingston and Washtenaw Counties Center for Healthcare Research and Transformation
Muskegon County Muskegon Community Health Project
Northern Michigan* Northern Michigan Public Health Alliance

*including Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Manistee, Missaukee, and Wexford counties

For more information visit www.michigan.gov/chir

Funding Information

The project described is supported by Funding Opportunity Number CMS-1G1-14-001 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The content provided is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of HHS or any of its agencies.