Annual Strategic Plan
& Five Year Plan

Strategic Plan

COMTREA board members, leadership, and staff collaborate and vote on fiscal year strategic plans.  Our plan consists of major categories with detailed goals and indicators.

Improve Access to Care

Achieve Health Equity and Enhance Population Health

Foster a Workforce Able to Address Current and Emergent Needs

Optimize COMTREA Operations and Strengthen Program Management

Download the full strategic plan

Improve Access to Care

Increase and improve the capacity of healthcare services, systems and infrastructure.

  • Improve and expand the availability of comprehensive health services.
  • Expand access to health care services in underserved and rural areas of Jefferson County.
  • Foster and expand the use of healthcare delivery models that utilize team-based approaches where each team member practices at the full scope of their training.

Improve the quality and effectiveness of healthcare services and systems.

  • Strengthen healthcare providers' ability to plan, coordinate, and manage services across the care continuum.
  • Increase access to quality patient care through the use of telehealth and innovative technology solutions.
  • Enhance the knowledge and use of evidence-based services, treatment guidelines, promising practices, and models of care within communities and by healthcare providers at NACHC and National Coalition or [state/national associations].

Connect Jefferson County residents to primary care, behavioral health, dental services and community services.

  • Increase public awareness through external communications, and education and training forums.
  • Advance outreach, education, and enrollment activities.
  • Expand and improve access to preventative services, home and community-based services, social supports, and care management.

Foster a Workforce Able to Address Current and Emergent Needs

Ensure that COMTREA can meet current and anticipated workforce requirements.

  • Establish and implement a strategic human capital operating plan and leverage the talents of a diverse workforce.
  • Address shortages by aligning training, recruitment, distribution and retention of the health force to serve in the areas where the need is the greatest.
  • Inform strategic decision-making to educate policy makers, researchers, and the public about workforce trends, supply, demands, and policy issues.

Increase the competencies of the healthcare work force.

  • Expand the number and types of training, both internal and external, for Providers, staff and students in clinical affiliations and rotations.
  • Ensure that COMTREA providers and staff can address the social determinants of health and emerging health care needs.
  • Increase cultural competency among health care workers.

Optimize the COMTREA workforce to support an accountable, performance-driven organization.

  • Conduct training and expand other opportunities for team and individual competency development to support a skilled workforce at all levels of the organization.
  • Hold the COMTREA workforce accountable by implementing timely and meaningful appraisal processes, and recognize employee contributions toward achieving COMTREA goals.
  • Improve the alignment of workforce policies and environment with COMTREA Care Values.

Achieve Health Equity and Enhance Population Health

Leverage community partnerships and stakeholder collaboration to achieve health equity and enhance population health.

  • Increase linkages of people to services and resources that improve population health through coordination and collaboration with community-based partnerships.
  • Support community actions that address social determinants of health and improved health-related infrastructure.
  • Expand outreach and communication, and develop stakeholder partnerships that lead to sustainable initiatives that eliminate health disparities.

Increase community-based disease prevention services.

  • Increase community-based disease prevention services.
  • Address emerging community health needs, including public health emergencies, by supporting adaptable, innovative, outcome-focused, sustainable programs.

Optimize COMTREA Operations and Strengthen Program Management

Improve efficiency and effectiveness of operations as related to performance indicators and performance targets.

  • Support evidence-driven decisions, guided by financial, programmatic, and other relevant data to increase the effectiveness and efficiency within COMTREA programs.
  • Empower the COMTREA workforce to design, test, evaluate, and sustain innovative, promising models to improve operational processes and efficiencies including but not limited to service delivery cost per service unit and personnel turnover.
  • Support the development, enhancement, and use of technology to assist the COMTREA workforce in performing at the highest levels.

Increase long-term financial sustainability for COMTREA.

  • Diversify revenue streams for core services and enhanced management strategies for pay for performance initiatives and state allocation funding.
  • Optimize collections and billing processes
  • Promote the submission of and fund high-quality grant applications to better meet the needs of populations that COMTREA serves.

Enhance program oversight and integrity.

  • Promote program compliance and integrity through maintaining accreditation standards, participation in external trainings, and training for COMTREA staff.
  • Implement performance management processes that identify and use meaningful program outcome measures to optimize resource allocation and improve health outcomes.
  • Identify and assess internal and external risks to program performance and activity to proactively address and mitigate vulnerabilities and integrate risk management techniques as an integral part of program oversight to drive strategic decision-making.

Five Year Plan

The five year plan was initiated in July 2016 and will continue through June 2021.
The plan consists of five major categories with 20 detailed goals.

Workforce Development

  • Develop and build a sustainable workforce through enhanced recruitment strategies, compensation programs, employee engagement, and educational development.
  • Increase staff salaries to be at the 50% by 2018.
  • Develop implementation plan for telemedicine for optimization of patient care and addressing the shortage of primary care physicians, dentists, and psychiatrists for FQHCs.
  • Partner with Jefferson College to start a dental assisting program.
  • Become trauma-responsive agency-wide and fully trauma-informed in the behavioral health programs.

Financial Health

  • Create a Foundation for A Safe Place and the Children's Advocacy Center.
  • Increase donations/fundraising to COMTREA by 50% in the next five years.
  • Diversification of funding resources to support agency's infrastructure and service delivery excellence.

Infrastructure (IT) & Building

  • Develop transitional/supportive housing for victims of violence at A Safe Place.
  • Develop alternative housing for the adult mental health and substance use population served by COMTREA.
  • Develop a long-term plan for upgraded environment of care, technology, and facilities to support current sites and future growth. 
  • Advance information technology system to support the delivery of care including a patient portal, intake processes, and other web-based information.

Marketing, Communication & Excellence in Quality

  • Increase community awareness of resources for primary care, dental care, substance use, mental health, effective parenting, wellness, and other topics through targeted marketing, community workshops, and educational opportunities.

Access to Care / Coordinated Care

  • Provide needs to underserved consistent with mission statement, updated community need assessment(s), and funding source purpose/intent. 
  • Evolve primary care, behavioral health, and dental care into an integrative delivery model through community partnerships. Achieve optimal health and healing with appropriate therapeutic approaches, healthcare, disciplines, and workflow coordination.
  • Expand partnerships with schools in Jefferson County with the development of three-to-five school-based health centers that provide age appropriate health care services including primary care, behavioral health, dental care, and substance use counseling. 
  • Open an FQHC dental office in South County-St. Louis by 2019.
  • Expand scope of integrated services provided with addition of specialized services for dental and primary care targeting podiatry and ophthalmology.