Northeast Georgia Medical Center issued the following announcement on Feb. 23.
Serving the community often extends beyond a single healthcare provider. That’s why Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC), District 2 Public Health, Stephens County Hospital, Habersham Medical Center and Good News Clinics are partnering together to better understand the health needs and issues that patients, families and neighbors throughout the northeast Georgia area face when making healthy life choices.
In order to understand health needs and issues throughout our area, we must reach out to our own community members. Together, we seek your input through our latest Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) online survey. Conducted every three years, the CHNA helps provide a snapshot of the region’s latest health profile and healthcare barriers. This assessment is then used to help guide the focus and development of future community benefit programs.
The survey is simple and easy to complete online at www.nghs.com/community-survey and will be open to anyone in the community until March 22.
“We invite everyone to participate in this short survey, which is truly invaluable in helping us understand the growing needs of our community,” says Phillippa Lewis Moss, NGMC Board Chair and Co-Chair of the Regional CHNA. “The information we gather informs NGHS, CHNA partners, and other community leaders where to direct community health improvement efforts.”
Dr. Monica Newton, Co-Chair of the Regional CHNA, agrees that the feedback gathered leads to improvements in the health of the entire region.
“The Community Health Needs Assessment is both a mirror and a rudder to guide hospitals in forming partnerships that make the biggest impact on the health of the community,” Newton explains.
Information from this study will be used to formulate specific plans that improve health in the region and results will be available to anyone interested in using them for long and short-range planning.
“A significant part of the assessment is community input,” says Moss. “Although the CHNA will include data and statistics from community health resources, it is important to us to know what community members feel are the key health needs, especially those of our most vulnerable populations.”
Responses are kept anonymous with a composite report. For those who would like to be included (and are willing to provide their name and contact information), there will also be a drawing for a free one-year YMCA membership.
“When we take a deep look, there are many needs,” Newton says. “But through our prioritization process we seek to steer resources where they will move the needle on the most important areas.”
The 2019 CHNA was crucial in directing awareness to specific community needs, says Moss. It set the stage for collaborative efforts towards improving mental healthcare in the region – an initiative that became imperative in dealing with the emotional ramifications of a global pandemic.
“The last Community Health Needs Assessment highlighted the need for more mental health resources,” she adds. “Since then, NGHS has added a psychiatric residency to the Graduate Medical Education Program, added behavioral health specialists to Northeast Georgia Physicians Group and partnered with United Way to launch the Reach Out Campaign to draw awareness to mental health issues and point vulnerable populations to available resources. These are just a few examples of many health improvement projects that have occurred as a result of the previous study.”
“This process enables us to get in front of those health concerns that are showing rising risk to our community’s health,” Newton added. “It helps us chart a different, healthier course.”
For more information about the CHNA and to complete the survey, visit www.nghs.com/community-survey.
Original source can be found here.
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