MidMichigan Medical Center Alpena Encourages Community Health Needs Assessment Survey
A program that is used every three years is back and MidMichigan Medical Center Alpena is using that technique.
“CHNA is ‘Community Health Needs Assessment.’ I like to think of it as a snapshot of health for a particular community at a particular time because it looks like it can be easy to be healthy in the community that make it difficult in the community. It also looks at other factors that impact health along with the resources available in a community to address those needs,” Community Health Specialist, Erica K. Phillips said.
Covering Alpena, Montmorency, Presque Isle and Alcona counties, the CHNA is changing the game of health needs in Northeast Michigan taking concerns outside of the hospital and into the community using a survey.
“We’re looking at anything from how much of the community smokes, to the availability of transportation. All of these things paint a picture of what it is, or how it is to live in this community. We’re also looking at community feedback. We want to engage the community in a genuine way and make priorities on what the community thinks we should be working on in the next 3 years, we use community surveys,” she added.
Right now until the end of the month, MidMichigan Medical Center Alpena is encouraging organizations to share their thoughts.
“That voice along with the public data is what we will use to develop our health improvement plan which is a result of this ‘Community Health Needs Assessment’ and that will guide our new programs and services along with our charitable contributions as well, so it’s very important that they participate,” Phillips said.
Contact community health at the hospital to take the ‘Community Health Needs Assessment’ survey, or to learn more about the program.
