The merged organization of the Regional Commission (RHC) and Alive and Well Communities (AWC) is a collaborative effort of cross-sector stakeholders and community members to advance health equity across the State of Missouri and beyond.

When formed in 2001, the St. Louis Regional Health Commission (RHC) was a collaborative effort of St. Louis City, St. Louis County, the state of Missouri, health providers, and community members to improve the health of uninsured and underinsured citizens in St. Louis City and County. Read more about the RHC’s history and formation.

Our team is led by an appointed board of Commissioners and three peer-elected advisory boards of community leaders, health care providers, and patients. The RHC gathers input from these leaders on a monthly basis to advance the mission.

Our Mission and Vision


Vision: We envision the St Louis region committed to achieving zero health disparities through a community driven approach that yields health equity in all policy and outcomes.

Mission: The RHC will serve as a regional model for bi-directional relationship building and shared decision making that harnesses the power of systems and communities to foster accountability and improve equitable healthcare access and outcomes particularly for communities of color.

2022 Strategic Priorities


  1. Reimagine the commission infrastructure, membership, and partnerships for execution of regional health equity agenda for priority populations
  2. Champion collaborative solutions within and between healthcare ecosystem sectors that address priority population needs and priorities
  3. Apply learnings from existing efforts to develop a sustainable communications framework and strategy

  1. Simplify data collection and reporting for regional measurement and accountability
  2. Maintain a system that reports current disaggregated race data to inform strategy and priority within the targeted universalism framework to address inequities
  3. Set and track specific metrics to identify and address chronic disease prevalence in Black and other communities of color

  1. Create and implement a health in all policy advocacy strategy based on learnings and efforts of current partners
  2. Consistently provide relevant and timely qualitative and quantitative data that is clear and actionable to inform community decision making
  3. Facilitate ongoing communication between stakeholders with lived experience from priority communities, decision makers throughout the healthcare ecosystem, and legislative policymakers
  4. Build staff and advisory board capacity to educate and engage local, state and federal policymakers

  1. Increase access for uninsured and underinsured individuals, including populations ineligible for Medicaid expansion and other coverage options, seeking primary, specialty and behavioral health services
  2. Identify and strategically engage cross-sector partners to remove barriers that prevent access and choice (i.e. transportation, ability to pay, housing, etc.)

  1. Champion efforts to address trauma informed care, workforce burnout and fatigue
  2. Facilitate ongoing data sharing and advocacy to anticipate and address gaps and misalignment in the healthcare ecosystem workforce
  3. Monitor and evaluate safety net providers capacity due to the growing demand with the passing of Medicaid Expansion
  4. Explore regional collaboration with local institutions to build and sustain workforce pipeline and capacity building, and to pilot centers of excellence that gather, build and disseminate equity-centered best practices, and create funding and opportunity to pilot innovative, capacity building practice

Questions?


To learn about the RHC’s Mission or Strategic Priorities, please contact Riisa Rawlins.