December 18, 2025- Health system leaders are under pressure to deliver better community health outcomes despite relentless financial pressure. Yet the partners best positioned to help close that gap — local health departments (LHDs) — are often underutilized, misunderstood and, in many cases, operating in parallel rather than in concert with health system strategies, according to Premier.
A new resource from Premier, entitled Health System Collaboration with Public Health Entities, surveyed more than 500 healthcare executives to help determine how health systems engage with LHDs. The findings show that while most health systems think they collaborate with public health, the reality is that these partnerships are fragmented and inconsistent at best. This disconnect positions health systems far away from the strategic, integrated partnerships needed to materially improve outcomes and deliver sustainable return-on-investment (ROI). Worse, the cracks are widening at a time when hospitals cannot afford misalignment.