UP Health System – Marquette (UPHS – Marquette), in collaboration with other local health professionals and stakeholders, is building a road map to health for the people of Marquette 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 adversely affect the health of a population and determine the availability of resources within the community to adequately address those factors.
UPHS – Marquette 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 May. 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 Tonya Darner, CEO of UPHS – Marquette. “This will help us focus our resources as we work towards making communities healthier.”
UPHS – Marquette’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.
In April, a community focus group will be conducted to seek input from local residents throughout this process. 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 Marquette County,” said Darner.
The information and data are being gathered by Strata, UPHS – Marquette’s research partner who will collect, quantify and interpret the data. The results will be shared with the hospital’s board of directors/trustees 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 scheduled. 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.
For more information about the CHNA and the survey process, visit our website. To take the survey, click on the button below.
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