Columbia Mailman Joins Common Health Coalition
The Columbia Mailman School is now a member of the Common Health Coalition, a new organization whose mission is to improve the country’s health system through innovative partnerships between health care and public health organizations.
The not-for-profit Common Health Coalition was founded in 2024 by five leading health care organizations to ensure the U.S. health system is ready to confront the next crisis via strengthened partnerships between health care and public health. The organization is chaired by Dave A. Chokshi, former New York City health commissioner, who guided the city’s response to COVID-19 from 2020 to 2022. Members include the American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, American Public Health Association, as well as numerous insurers and health systems, public health agencies, nonprofits, and professional associations.
The Coalition sponsors a Common Health Challenge for members to rally around a critical health system-wide issue for which the solution relies on improved partnership between health care and public health. The inaugural challenge spotlights community health workers as trusted professionals who build bridges among clinical, public health, and community organizations to facilitate access to services and improve health.
The Coalition also offers a compendium of effective activities happening at the intersection of health care and public health, as well as case studies, videos, and other resources to help amplify and replicate innovative work happening across the country.
“We are thrilled to have Columbia Mailman join our membership of organizations committed to strengthening and solidifying cross-sector partnerships for health,” Chokshi said. “They are a renowned institution and vanguard training ground for leaders in both health care and public health. We look forward to working hand in hand with Columbia Mailman to reimagine our health system without silos and educate our future leaders to carry that vision forward.”
Sami Jarrah, Columbia Mailman’s vice dean for finance and administration, and executive director for public partnerships, saw firsthand the value of health care and public health partnering during his time in leadership roles at public health departments in Portland, Oregon, Philadelphia, and New York City.
“The health care and public health sectors rely on each other to be successful,” Jarrah said. “I saw that daily when working on everything from the COVID-19 pandemic to diabetes prevention and reducing the harm of gun violence. Columbia is an ideal partner because of the strong collaboration among faculty, staff, and students across disciplines.”
Since its start in 1922, Columbia Mailman has forged links between public health and medicine, such as community clinics run in partnership with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and joint research initiatives across Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Active examples of the latter include SURGE (Scientific Union for the Reduction of Gun Violence) and SPIRIT (Social Psychiatry: Innovation in Research, Implementation, and Training). Columbia Mailman also offers training to hospital administrators in the U.S. and internationally through the Health System Simulation led by John Winkleman in the Department of Health Policy and Management.
“Public health and medicine, when working hand in hand, provide the foundation for improving health outcomes, addressing disparities, and creating long-term strategies that benefit both individuals and communities. By combining public health’s focus on prevention and population health with medicine’s expertise in individualized care, we can achieve a healthier and more equitable future for all,” said Linda P. Fried, Columbia Mailman School Dean.
The partnership with the Common Health Coalition is the second such agreement for the School in the last 12 months. Last August, Columbia Mailman joined HealthyNYC, an initiative of the New York City Department of Health, as a founding partner. Along with more than a dozen organizations across health care, academia, government, philanthropy, and the private sector, the School commits to a goal of extending life expectancy among New York City residents to a new record of at least 83 years by 2030.