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Safety Net Health Plans and Community Development Unite for Healthier, More Prosperous Communities

Written by Build Healthy Places Staff on August 14, 2025

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 25, 2025 – The Build Healthy Places Network (BHPN) and the Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP) proudly announce the formation of a new Advisory Council. This collaborative initiative aims to create a vital resource, empowering not-for-profit Safety Net Health Plans to forge effective partnerships with the community development sector and strategically invest in community infrastructure.

BHPN and ACAP believe that by joining forces, multi-sector partnerships between health plans and community development can leverage each partner’s strengths and expertise. This collaboration strengthens the links between health and community infrastructure by guiding investments toward what communities need to thrive. The Advisory Council, composed of leading experts from both the health and community development sectors, will provide crucial insights to ensure the guide is practical, impactful, and action-oriented.

The inaugural members of the Advisory Council include:

  • Amy Riegel, Executive Director, Coalition on Homelessness & Housing in Ohio
  • Ann Oshel, Senior Vice President, Community Health and Well-being, Alliance Health
  • Betsy Jones, Chief Strategy Officer, Community Health Plan of Washington
  • Hanaa Hamdi, Visiting Scholar, Federal Reserve Bank of NY; CEO and Founder, Healthy Resilient and People and Places
  • Heidi Eccleston, Senior Director of Program Development, Banner Health Plans
  • Joanne Scillia, Vice President of Clinical Operations, Texas Children’s Health Plan
  • Mary Ayala, Director of Multifamily Outreach, Enterprise Community Partners
  • Megan Allain, Senior Program Officer, Health; Local Initiatives Support Corporation
  • Stephen Samuels, Vice President, Innovation & Impact Investing; Volunteers of America
  • Terrie Hottle, Director of Social Determinants of Health, CareSource
  • Tiffany Rose Naputi Lacsado, Chief Program Officer, The Unity Council
  • Eddy Moratin, President, Lift Orlando

Their collective expertise will be instrumental in shaping this guide, supporting health plans in their efforts to invest further upstream in community infrastructure projects that directly impact health and community well-being.

“Health plans and community development organizations share the goal of serving disinvested communities. But sometimes our collaboration has been hindered because we find incentives or metrics of success to be at cross-purposes,” said Enrique Martinez-Vidal, Vice President, Quality and Operations at ACAP. “This Advisory Council is a terrific opportunity to bridge these gaps, and align our organizations to address community-level factors that influence health outcomes in a more meaningful, coordinated way.”

“Investing in this work will enable us to develop a roadmap for overcoming barriers, aligning incentives, and establishing shared goals,” added Colleen Flynn, Co-Executive Director of BHPN. “This will not only advance health and prosperity in disinvested communities but also unlock the potential for innovative, multi-sector solutions, especially critical in a time of federal funding cuts.”

About Build Healthy Places Network (BHPN) sits at the intersection of community development, finance, public health and healthcare. Our mission is to improve health and advance racial equity in neighborhoods across the United States through building momentum for coordinated systems change and collaboration across the health and community development sectors to effectively leverage community-centered investments. BHPN is a nationally respected organization, with credibility as a convenor, facilitator, and knowledge source. BHPN is a program of the Public Health Institute. For more information visit buildhealthyplaces.org.

About the Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP): ACAP represents 85 health plans, which collectively provide health coverage to more than 30 million people. Safety Net Health Plans serve their members through Medicaid, Medicare, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Marketplace and other publicly-sponsored health programs. For more information, visit communityplans.net.