McPherson awarded NBHP Community Program Champion for the Harris County Pathways Community HUB

Published: October 16, 2023

Heidi Hagen McPherson, MPH was awarded The Network of Behavioral Health Providers (NBPH) Program Champion for the Harris County Pathways Community HUB in recognition of her work with community stakeholders to improve care coordination.

Since 2019, McPherson has collaborated with NBPH advising their Harris County Pathways Community HUB initiative. In the Pathways Hub Model, Community Health Workers (CHWs) assist residents to develop an individualized care plan based on identified risks and needs. They then provide community referrals to help residents improve their health and wellbeing with a coordinated electronic platform to track their progress and access to services. These referrals follow identified, evidence-based pathways, which are reimbursed by the Pathway Hub’s funding, once these needs are met.  

McPherson has worked with other community stakeholders in a variety of roles with NBPH, such as establishing priority populations, assisting with technology design, vetting vendors, building Hub host organization roles, and laying the groundwork for the investment in the Hub operations.

McPherson also co-leads the Health Equity Collective (HEC), which is building collaborations across the Greater Houston area to strengthen equity, capacity, and sustainability of CHW efforts. The HEC is building closed loop referral capacity through a community information exchange- a platform that uses a shared language, resource database, and an integrated technology platform to deliver enhanced community care coordination.

Through this collaboration, NPBH was recruited to co-lead the launch of the HEC’s Mental Health and Substance Use Workgroup as well.

“I am simply honored to be a champion of The Network of Behavioral Health Providers' efforts and Pathways HUB development for our region. This is a cornerstone systems approach to improving care coordination, access to health and social services, as well as improving health equity. It is a privilege to have them in the Health Equity Collective and to have been a part of bringing the Pathways Hub to our region."