Mercy Health – Springfield has concluded its 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) and Community Health Implementation Plan (CHIP) surveys, taken every three years to identify the top health concerns in Clark and Champaign counties.
“It helps us set and establish priorities for the coming years,” explained Mercy Health – Springfield’s Community Health Director Carolyn Young. “It’s important to be in line with what is impacting the health and wellbeing of people who live here, so we can be working for the betterment of our community collaboratively and with purpose. These data-driven assessments help us understand the most pressing needs of our patients and our community so that we can work to make sure we’re addressing and supporting those needs in every way possible.”
The assessment asks for community input on items ranging from local health resources, barriers to care and gaps in services to trends regarding health and healthy lifestyles.
“We talk to people and find out their thoughts on what it means to be healthy – do you have access to healthy food? Is your housing safe and are you physically active? Can you afford your prescriptions? Those are just some examples,” explained Chris Cook, the assistant health commissioner for Clark County Combined Health District, which works hand in hand with Mercy Health to collect data for the CHNA.
The top focus areas identified in the latest assessment were as follows for both Clark and Champaign counties:
- Access to care (primary care, women’s health and non-emergent options such as urgent and virtual care)
- Health risk prevention and social determinants of health with focus on food access, education and transportation
- Behavioral health (mental health, addiction and trauma)
- Chronic disease such as heart disease, stroke and cancer (with focus on breast, lung, bronchus and skin/melanoma in both counties as well as colon and rectum in Clark County)
- Maternal/infant health and infant vitality
With those needs identified as priorities, work is already underway to create measurable objectives that work toward specific goals.
“We already have plans in the works to launch new specialty providers in women’s health, neurology and stroke care and to establish same-day appointments in various care settings across our footprint,” Young said. “Additionally, we’re working with local Career Technology Centers in both Clark and Champaign counties to build our student internship program and launching other programs to attract and retain local talent, while giving a beautiful runway for health care careers, with room for advancement.”
There are many programs already in place to address more of the above-mentioned issues, such as Mercy REACH, a drug, alcohol and tobacco cessation program. In 2022, Mercy REACH’s vaping and tobacco cessation program reached the most, with more than 74 registrations reported and an 82 percent completion rate. The health system’s partnership with Clark County Combined Health District and Nehemiah Foundation, a program called Faith Community Nursing, has also grown, with 15 churches now engaged in the hybrid faith-based health support program, commonly known as parish nursing. Also in 2022, with the assistance of a grant from the Ohio Department of Health, the Birthing Center at Mercy Health – Springfield Regional Medical Center expanded its childbirth, newborn and breastfeeding education offerings to include times and locations in both counties.
Work is also underway on developing new strategies to meet the growing needs of undocumented, underinsured and uninsured patients and other vulnerable community residents.