Central Carolina Hospital – in collaboration with the Lee County Health Department and The Lee Community Action Network (LeeCAN), “A Healthy Carolinians Partnership” – is building a road map to health for the people of Lee County, identifying public health needs, goals, objectives and priorities. The hospital has launched a comprehensive Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), which will provide a rich foundation for improving and promoting the health of each community member.
The CHNA is a systematic collection, assembly, analysis, and dissemination of information about the comprehensive health of the community. Its role is to identify factors that negatively affect the health of a population and determine the availability of resources with the community to adequately address those factors.
CCH performed a CHNA three years ago and is now assessing where the community is and what still needs to be done. The assessment is expected to be finalized by the end of August. A report of the results will be presented to the community.
“Guided by the results of this important community assessment and the progress we’ve made since the last CHNA, we will soon have a more comprehensive understanding of the health needs of our community,” said Dave Santoemma, CEO of CCH, in a news release. “This will help us focus our resources as we work towards making communities healthier.”
CCH’s CHNA will use both existing and new data to assess local health needs and recommend possible improvement methods. Some of the data has already been collected through previous local, state and federal public health organizations.
Community members, physicians and hospital employees will be surveyed about local health issues and what changes they would like to see in the community. That insight, along with the data, will be used to set priorities for health improvement.
“The survey will be looking at what the concerns are as seen through the eyes of the residents of Lee County,” Santoemma said.
“The Community Health Needs Assessment is an important planning tool for our community and for our agencies. Your input is crucial as our goal is to utilize the data shared and develop action plans based on the responses provided,” said Heath Cain, Lee County Health Director. “We appreciate any and all feedback provided as we all can work together to improve the health of our citizenry.”
The information and data is being gathered by Strata, CCH’s research partner, who will collect, quantify and interpret the data. The results will be shared with CCH’s board of directors and administration to help them develop and refine the hospital’s programs and services to ensure the community’s healthcare needs are met.
Once the data gathering is complete, a Community Health Summit will be held on Friday, Sept. 19, at the health department. The summit will share the data collected in the CHNA and serve as a way to gather community input into the plan for health improvement.
“As we demonstrated with our last CHNA, our community assessment is not meant to produce a document that will not provide improved health,” Santoemma said. “It is meant to create the continuation of an action plan to help us truly improve the lives of the people in our community.”
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