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Bureau for Public Health Strategic Plan 2003-2006

Building a Healthy Future through Planning

Letter

Contents,
Background,
Development

Vision, Mission, Core Values

Overarching Goals

Goals, Objectives & Strategies

Action Planning

Appendix A

Appendix B

Table of Contents

STRATEGIC PLANNING INITIATIVE BACKGROUND

During the past couple of years, the Bureau for Public Health (BPH) has been integrating strategic planning into its overall approach for building a high performing, effective organization readied to meet the opportunities and challenges of today and the future. The Strategic Planning Initiative was initiated through the Commissioner's Office in 2001. An initial planning team from across the organization developed a starting strategic plan based on historical information and plans in place throughout BPH at that time. Known internally as the Strategic Planning Initiative (SPI), this important activity has subsequently been taken on by the Bureau's Leadership Team, with input from many others, to provide a common vision, mission, and set of core values for the entire organization. In addition, a set of overarching goals for all of BPH were developed. These goals, when reached, will truly improve BPH as an organization, enhance the working environment for everyone who works for it, and improve the delivery of products and services to the customers BPH serves.

This plan document provides the essence of the strategic planning efforts. There are a number of background and planning documents available that support the results contained in this document.

Each area within BPH will develop action plans that support the overall strategies delineated in this plan. From Bureau-wide actions to individual contributions, action plans will be built and implemented to help BPH work to its strategic plan.

As basis for this work, BPH created a set of planning principles and expectations to guide its planning initiative. These are listed in appendix A.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN 2003-2006

The Bureau for Public Health (BPH) Leadership Team conducted a number of listening sessions with groups of employees either in a focus group or within existing divisions or offices. These sessions provided forums both to offer suggestions as to vision, mission, and values, as well as to conduct assessments of what was working well and what areas needed attention by BPH. In addition to internal assessments, Leadership Team members coordinated and conducted external research and review of a variety of planning documents, grant submissions, customer surveys, etc.

In addition, on-going activities with local public health through the Working Relationship effort and earlier Transitions Project helped shape some of the key assessment information sought by Leadership Team. This included information from the Invitational Roundtable in 2001 and 2002. BPH has a number of other partners it works with who provided assessment information helpful in determining areas for which planning should focus. Thus, through a variety of opportunities and settings, including the significant challenges threat preparedness has brought, Leadership Team, working with the Division Directors, has listened to many different voices from different perspectives of public health and the BPH organization.

Based on overall assessments and the development of draft vision, mission, and core values, the Leadership Team began to forge a set of overarching goals with potential objectives that would be the foundation for the strategic plan. The goals that surfaced clearly were balanced among internal (employees, financial) and external needs (customer, collaboration). The draft goals were taken and presented at a special all Division Directors planning session. This day-long event provided opportunity to collect reactions to the vision, mission, and core values along with the key goal statements. Further, this session was used to gather specific suggestions for strategies that could, if undertaken, help BPH reach the goals.

The information from the planning session and continued development of assessment themes were given to Leadership Team members who worked in small teams to fully develop the strategic plan. In separate planning sessions and in regular Leadership Team meetings, this plan was drafted.

A summary of the key themes that served as a foundation in developing the goals and objectives comprising the strategic plan are found in appendix B.

Planning is on going. The work to date provides a clear roadmap for investing resources and energy to pursue a strengthened organization working towards our vision of healthy people in healthy communities."

Table of Contents