This post was written by Gretchen Hammer, a previous member of our team.
“If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old.”
–Peter F. Drucker
This time of year is full of resolutions and promises to do more of the things we know are good for us and are effective. Eat more vegetables. Exercise more consistently. Connect with friends and family more often. Be more present in our daily lives.
It can be a bit overwhelming to think of all the new things there are to do. And frankly, sometimes the reality that there are only 24 hours in a day directly conflicts with our resolutions to do more. So what if we follow Peter Drucker’s advice and we muster the courage to stop doing something old so that we can successfully do something new?
At CCMU we took this advice to heart and now have an exciting 2014 workplan that focuses on continuing to do the things we were successful at in 2013–supporting communities as they come together and address their local health care challenges, working to inform and implement key health care reform policies, and producing award-winning communications products. For us, planning to do in 2014 what we love and what we are good at was easy.
What took more time, reflection, and–frankly–courage, was making decisions about what we should stop doing in 2014. The Connect to Coverage, Connect to Care Campaign will be winding down in early 2014 as we reach the milestone of expanded Medicaid coverage. Colorado HealthStory will be transitioning to a key component of our community development work, instead of operating as a collaborative, independent project. And, December 2014 marked the end of our Health Perspectives infographic series.
We have made these choices so that we have room for new projects and efforts, such as Health is Local, which will be profiling four Colorado communities throughout 2014 and tracking the impact of health care reform. We will also be launching our Action for Equity series designed to move our work from describing inequities in health in Colorado to proposing concrete action steps to achieve health equity. And, we will be shifting some of our focus to monitoring and collaborating with partners to ensure adequate access to important health care services for all Coloradans.
It is going to be an exciting year as we launch this new work and we hope that you will join us as we strive to do what is good and effective on behalf of the medically underserved.