After more than a year of planning, Marshfield Clinic Health System (MCHS) hired its first two community health workers to serve high-risk populations in two counties, including the Plain and Hispanic communities in and around Neillsville. 

A community health worker (CHW) is a frontline public health worker who is a trusted member of and/or has a close understanding of the community served. This trusting relationship enables the CHW to serve as a liaison among the Health System, social services, and the community to facilitate access to health information and services. The community health workers help individuals and the greater community increase health knowledge and self-sufficiency through a range of activities such as outreach, community education, social support and advocacy.

With support from a Health Resources and Services Administration grant, the health system worked with the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, National Farm Medicine Center to establish the Western Wisconsin Rural Behavioral Health Network and begin building a CHW program roadmap to serve within MCHS clinical departments and at community-based organizations.

The first workers were hired to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among the Plain and Hispanic communities. They have collaborated with the public health departments on vaccine efforts, provided vaccine education at community events and took part in setting up a new vaccination clinic. One CHW attended a candlelight vigil for community members who lost their lives to COVID-19 and remarked, “The community members that were there were happy to see someone that was working on the hesitancy.”

Center for Community Health Advancement (CCHA) is committed to advancing CHW opportunities, including taking an active role in standardizing the certification process and participating in discussions around Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement for long-term sustainability.