The goal of New Hampshire's 13 Regional Public Health Networks (RPHNs) is for all New Hampshire residents to be healthy and safe. The purpose of the RPHNs is to integrate multiple public health initiatives and services into a common network of community stakeholders.
The Greater Monadnock Public Health Network (GMPHN) serves the 23 towns of Cheshire County, as well as the 10 western-most towns in Hillsborough County. Collaborating with diverse stakeholders in order to break down geographical and institutional barriers between providers of human services, each RPHNs mission is to expand regional infrastructure and coordination around public health services and to work with partnering agencies to deliver public health service.
Cheshire Medical Center houses the GMPHN offices. Cheshire’s Center for Population Health provides staff for each of four focus areas in which partner agencies work together to build regional capacity:
- Substance misuse prevention: through technical assistance, trainings, education, facilitation, and program implementation
- Continuum of care facilitation: by increasing awareness and access to substance misuse prevention, treatment, and recovery services
- Public health emergency preparedness: through strategic planning to mitigate the health impacts of COVID-19, climate change, and other disease prevention and health promotion activities.
- Public Health Advisory Council (PHAC): identifying regional public health priorities based on assessments of community health, and guiding the implementation of programs, practices, and evidence-based policies to meet improved health outcomes. The Healthy Monadnock Alliance serves as the PHAC for our community.