Governance Innovation for Health Sustainability: Balikpapan City SDG Strategies

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of innovative strategies in local health governance implemented by the Balikpapan City Government to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3, which focuses on ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages. Using a qualitative case study approach and relying on secondary data sources, the research explores three key aspects: multi-stakeholder collaboration, digital transformation of health services, and community-based interventions. The Balikpapan City Government has implemented various strategies, such as the Foster Parent Program to overcome stunting, digitalizing health services through the SatuSehat platform, BPJS Kesehatan subsidies for vulnerable groups, and developing primary care infrastructure in remote areas. Although there have been positive achievements, such as increasing life expectancy and expanding JKN coverage, challenges still arise in increasing stunting prevalence, unequal distribution of health workers, and low community participation in preventive services. The contribution of this article is to provide empirical evidence and theoretical understanding of how data-based, participatory, and adaptive local governance innovations can strengthen the achievement of SDGs in the context of decentralization. These findings support the relevance of collaborative governance and digital-era governance approaches in strengthening regional health systems in general.