Pennsylvania partners in pursuit of good health: building a shared-responsibility model for state health improvement.

Over the last decade, much attention has focused on the reorganization of the roles and functions of public health to improve the health of communities. The Pennsylvania State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) offers one example of how national, state, and local components of the public health system can effectively integrate their strategies and resources to improve responsiveness to local public health needs. This article reviews the policy action and planning process used to develop a community partnership, shared-responsibility model and the strategies and implementation plans that have been adopted to achieve substantial, measurable improvement in community health status.