In early 2012, HRiA completed a regional strategic planning process for the Paso del Norte Health Foundation in El Paso, Texas. This process involved three days of intensive planning in three cities and two countries served by the Foundation (El Paso, TX; Las Cruces, NM; and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico). In the facilitated, interactive sessions, participants discussed community health data, identified health improvement priorities, and developed measurable and actionable sub-regional plans to address them. HRiA engaged a bilingual chief facilitator and bilingual table facilitators to guide the Spanish-speaking participants through the rapid planning process, and all materials and documentation were translated into Spanish.
The process culminated in a fourth planning session with leadership from the Foundation and representatives from each of the three sub regions to identify and plan for two overarching priority health issues for the Foundation’s entire service region. HRiA once again employed synchronous Spanish and English PowerPoint presentations, bilingual simultaneous interpreters, and handouts/reports in Spanish and English.