About Us

Coalition Overview

The Southcoast Public Health Coalition serves the communities of Fall River, Seekonk, Somerset, and Swansea, MA. Through the Massachusetts Office of Local & Regional Health’s Public Health Excellence Grant, this regional collaborative was created to provide improved community access to public health services by pooling resources, functions, and expertise. By leveraging cross-jurisdictional sharing and hiring regional staff, the Southcoast Public Health Coalition increases the capacity and capabilities of the participating public health entities.

These activities support the Southcoast Public Health Coalition’s mission of promoting a healthier community for all who live, work, and learn in Fall River, Seekonk, Somerset, and Swansea.

Grant Information

Released in June 2019, the Blueprint for Public Health Excellence report was released by the Massachusetts Special Commission of Local and Regional Public Health. The report outlined recommendations to “increase cross-jurisdictional sharing of public health services to strengthen the service delivery capacities of local public health departments.” In response to the report, Massachusetts passed SAPHE, An Act for State Action for Public Health Excellence in 2021. This first-ever set of Performance Standards made significant steps in modernizing local public health in Massachusetts across our 351 municipalities. Born out of SAPHE, the Public Health Excellence Shared Services Grant Program promotes and supports the development of inter-municipal share service agreements. Since its infancy, this program has grown to offer 319 Massachusetts cities and towns more than $50M of grant funding and technical assistance to improve local public health effectiveness and efficiency. This grant program funds all activities of the Southcoast Public Health Coalition.

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