Lawrence General and Community Partners Collaborate to Assess Health Needs of Region
More than 50 representatives from community health and social
service organizations based in the Merrimack Valley area gathered at the
Andover Country Club on Friday, January 25, to lay the foundation for a comprehensive
Community Health Needs Assessment to be led by Lawrence General Hospital over
the next seven months.
Required of all hospitals in the nation every three years, this
important public health review is used to
provide a framework for community health
improvement efforts in communities across the country. The final report also
helps to ensure that the hospital is utilizing its resources and leveraging
community partnerships in the most effective way to address identified
community needs.
“This Community Health Needs Assessment is
intended to help us design care and programming that meets the expressed needs
of the communities we serve,” said Lawrence General president and CEO during
her opening remarks at the event. “When it’s completed in the fall, the report
will provide an essential roadmap for our efforts to better serve the community
over the next three years.”
The Community Health
Needs Assessment examines health in its broadest
context to identify the perceived needs, challenges to accessing services,
current strengths and assets, and opportunities for action. The
collaborative information gathering process entails
reviewing existing social, economic, and health data about the residents of the
region and those who are traditionally underserved; conducting focus groups
with community members; and interviewing key health care stakeholders and
community leaders. A health needs assessment survey is also distributed widely
throughout the region to gather information directly from residents and from health
care providers.
“Our last community needs assessment in 2016 prompted
us to strengthen Lawrence General’s programming around weight loss and cardiac
and vascular services, as well as support programs for individuals with substance
use disorder—like our Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Program,” said Anderson. “We
have also instituted programming to improve access to health care, alongside
our partners at Greater Lawrence Family Health Center and AllWays Health,
through My Care Family, our Medicaid Accountable Care Organization. Improved
community-based management of health and chronic diseases can reduce costly
complications in this patient population and even prevent some related
diseases.”
The
Community Health Needs Assessment advisory committee will reconvene in June to
discuss the 2019 research findings and related action steps.
Click here to
view Lawrence General’s 2016 Community Health Needs Assessment report.
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