WNC Health Policy Initiative’s
Role in Health Policy Education & Advocacy

The mission of the Western North Carolina Health Policy Initiative (WNC HPI) is to inform strategies for improving the health and wellbeing of all people in an 18-county region of WNC through scholarship, collaboration, policy development and advocacy. 

The WNC Health Policy Initiative’s role in policy education and advocacy is guided by our mission, topical focus areas, and requirements of our host institutions of the NC Center for Health and Wellness (NCCHW) of the state-funded University of North Carolina Asheville (UNCA) and the partially state-funded Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC). The WNC HPI is funded by a grant from the Dogwood Health Trust. 

The WNC HPI engages people/organizations interested in and working to improve health in our region, through open meetings and workgroups, smaller invitation-based meetings and legislative summits, and interactions with our blog, briefs, podcasts, and additional web-based resources. The people and organizations who engage with the HPI have varying views, interests, constituencies, and approaches. While the HPI is a convener, the HPI does not currently have a structure or process for gathering and making unified policy proposals or statements. Learn more and engage with the WNC HPI at www.wnchealthpolicy.org.

What HPI Can and Often Does:

  • Regularly convene people and organizations for presentations and discussions focused on regional health and data and relevant local and state policy activities

  • Inform people and organizations who engage with the HPI about legislative and other policy initiatives including specific pieces of state legislation relevant to health of WNC in meetings and through a (future) designated policy page on the HPI website 

  • Advocate, by outlining research-backed policy option(s) relevant to the health of WNC, through interactions, documents, and media shared with policy makers

  • Partner with people and organizations to inform legislative offices about issues critical to the health of WNC and relevant policy options through an annual summit, policy briefs and other documents, podcasts, and meetings as appropriate

  • Partner with academic, health-focused, and additional entities to inform and conduct policy research and share findings and policy implications with various groups

  • Comment on health policy issues in news media, including interviews with, and opinion-editorials by, HPI staff and leadership team members, and in accordance with this document and institutional guidelines

  • Conduct and recommend research independent of funders and funding priorities

  • Adhere to UNC Asheville and MAHEC guidelines around advocacy and lobbying 

What HPI Does Not Do:

  • Represent or necessarily promote or support any individual organizations’ positions or priorities*

  • Take, or advocate for, a position to influence a specific piece of legislation, constituting direct or indirect lobbying

  • Distribute information in any form that takes, or advocates for, a position to influence a specific piece of legislation**

  • Endorse candidates for political office

  • Expect HPI members to align with HPI priorities and initiatives

  • Present official HPI position statements or recommend specific policies**


*Organizational priorities may align with HPI priorities.

**This role is in accordance with guidance from UNCA General Counsel. Recommended policies may be inferred from discussions of evidence-backed policies.