To attain the vision of healthy people in healthy communities, we must assure that all communities, no matter how small, have access to the essential public health services. All partners who can contribute to action as a public health system should be encouraged to assess their roles and responsibilities, consider changes, and devise ways to better collaborate with other partners. They can transform the way they “do business” to better act to achieve a healthy population on their own and position themselves to be part of an effective partnership in assuring the health of the population. Health policy should create incentives to make these partnerships easier.

Clearly, the health care delivery system already plays an important role in providing several of the Essential Public Health Services (ESs). For example, health care providers can contribute to public health surveillance and assessment of community health status (ESs 1 and 2), and they can employ their resources in health promotion and education activities (ES 3). The many entities that operate within communities can collaborate with other partners to monitor health and investigate health-related needs (ESs 1 and 2) and can play a dynamic role in education, empowerment, and mobilization for health improvement (ESs 3 and 4). Communities can also become involved in policy development (ES 5), either directly or indirectly through organizational efforts and advocacy. Academia informs, educates, and empowers people about health issues (ES 3) through partnerships with