Tarrant County Commissioner Roy Charles Brooks Discusses Community Health Improvement

On the heels of the National Association of Counties (NACo) Annual Conference, we were able to discuss improving community health with Roy Charles Brooks, Tarrant County Commissioner and chairman of NACo’s Healthy Counties Initiative.

Commissioner Brooks has had an extensive career in public service with a deep commitment to health issues in his community. Brooks is firm believer that conditions vary from county to county and only those on the ground are truly in a position to assess what is needed. 

In that regard, the work of the Healthy Counties Initiative is important. Commissioner Brooks calls the group a “clearing house for ideas,” whose top priority is to expose member counties to best practices and show them how to use these tools to improve health in their counties. He deems data featured in the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps as central to that goal.

Additionally, Commissioner Brooks says the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps are a critical part in overcoming a major challenge for healthcare. Brooks believes there is an essential need to break down silos in which health and healthcare have traditionally been delivered and the Rankings data and Roadmaps stories provide information that justifies community-wide collaboration toward healthier communities.

Commissioner Brooks credits collaboration as the reason why Tarrant County consistently ranks in the top quartile in health rankings in Texas. “Collaboration is a community value. We believe it, we act on it, and it’s the way we have approached problem solving for a long long time.” In spite of Tarrant’s success, Brooks strives to be the top ranked county in Texas and will continue applying best practices and collaborative approaches to make it happen.