Thank you for attending our annual meeting yesterday. During the event, the Health Planning Council of Southwest Florida and its leadership team shared an overview of the agency, summarized all services and programs, and highlighted the impact of our initiatives on local communities. We also unveiled the 2026 County Health Profiles and discussed how our efforts align with regional health priorities. Below is a summary of the meeting, along with links to the county health profiles, the impact survey, and the recording of the session. Additionally, a copy of the PowerPoint presentation used during the meeting is attached.
Link to 2026 County Health Profiles
Link to Meeting Recording, passcode: ZW*KqoP1
Quick recap
This was HPC’s annual meeting, where agency leadership presented an overview of the organization’s services and launched the 2026 County Health Profiles. The meeting featured presentations from various HPC staff members covering their key programs, including Trina Puddefoot’s Early Intervention Services program which serves over 2,600 children across 10 counties, Warren Wright’s ACA Navigator program that helps consumers enroll in health insurance through the marketplace, Jessica Stone’s infant mental health consultation program, and Peggy Brown’s overview of community programs including the Southwest Florida Healthcare Coalition, HOPWA housing assistance for people with HIV/AIDS, and Health Planning. The meeting also included a demonstration of the new 2026 County Health Profiles by Julia Cooper, which provided comprehensive health data and snapshots for each of the seven core counties served by HPC. Several participants, including Dr. Anzalone and representatives from Healthcare Network, expressed interest in potential partnerships.
Summary
Health Planning Council Annual Meeting
Peggy Brown, Director of Planning at the Health Planning Council of Southwest Florida, opened the annual meeting to discuss their services and launch the County Health Profiles. She outlined the meeting logistics and introduced the agency’s mission, which focuses on improving community health. The meeting featured representatives from various programs.
Early Steps Program Overview
Trina, the program director for early intervention services, presented an overview of the Early Steps program, which serves children showing developmental delays from birth to age 3 across 10 counties. She explained that the program provides in-home and community-based services delivered by various therapists, and highlighted their Alternative Augmentative Communication (AAC) program, which has helped 161 children and provided nearly 500 consultations over the past two years. Trina also discussed their playgroups initiative to help children socialize and noted that services are provided at no cost to families, with eligibility based solely on developmental status rather than income.
ACA Navigator and Infant Mental Health Program Updates
Warren Wright presented on the ACA Navigator program, reporting that they exceeded their goals in the first six months of the fiscal year, reaching over 1,100 consumers in one-on-one interactions and nearly 2,000 through marketing activities. Jessica Stone concluded by describing the infant mental health program, highlighting their preschool consultation services and leadership of the Southwest chapter of the Florida Association for Infant Mental Health, with 265 preschool visits completed since January 2025. Jessica discussed her work in infant mental health consultation, focusing on preschool-aged children and addressing various family and developmental concerns, including early signs of autism and ADHD.
Community Programs
Peggy presented several community programs, including the Southwest Florida Healthcare Coalition’s pediatric emergency preparedness initiatives, the HOPWA program, which helps people with HIV/AIDS maintain stable housing, and health planning services, including assessments and educational outreach. Peggy also reviewed the DSMES program and announced that the new mentor cohort application will be released on June 1st.
2026 County Health Profiles Presentation
Julia presented the 2026 County Health Profiles for Southwest Florida’s seven counties, demonstrating how to access and navigate the profiles through the HPCSWF website. The profiles provide annual snapshots of each county’s health and well-being, including demographic data, socioeconomic indicators, health indicators, healthcare access, and community context. The conversation ended with participants sharing contact information and expressing interest in future collaboration opportunities.
