On October 31, the WNC HPI convened with our working group leads for a briefing to share progress and align next steps across the WNC HPI’s three core focus areas: Social Drivers of Health (SDOH), Access to Healthcare, and Healthcare Workforce Development. In this summary update, we share key takeaways, themes and action items drawn from the Oct 31 briefing to provide a roadmap of the working group’s activities over the next several months.

Health policy doesn’t happen in a vacuum—it’s the product of political negotiation, lobbying, legislation and often a delicate balance of regional interests. On a recent episode of the WNC Health Policy Initiative Podcast, we had the opportunity to sit down with Jackson County’s own Dr. Chris Cooper, Robert Lee Madison Distinguished Professor and Director of the Haire Institute for Public Policy Western Carolina University at Western Carolina University, and author of Anatomy of a Purple State, to take a deeper look at the dynamics shaping health policy in North Carolina today. In this article, we explore the current background and landscape of health policy in North Carolina touched on by Dr. Cooper, as well as review some of the relevant legislation coming up on the NC General Assembly’s consideration in the coming months.