Community Health Needs Assessment helps identify areas of needs in community
Richmond, VA – Bon Secours Richmond is conducting a community health needs assessment (CHNA) survey of residents within the immediate and surrounding areas of its community hospitals: Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital in Henrico, Bon Secours Memorial Regional Medical Center in Hanover, Bon Secours Richmond Community Hospital in Richmond, and Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center in Chesterfield, Bon Secours Southside Medical Center in Petersburg, Bon Secours Southern Virginia Medical Center in Emporia, and Bon Secours Rappahannock General Hospital in the Northern Neck.
The survey will help Bon Secours identify the areas of greatest need in the Richmond market where the not-for-profit health system can work to improve the health of the community. The assessment is available online for residents of the 28 immediate and surrounding counties and cities where the majority of Bon Secours’ patients reside, and participants must be 18 years or older. Non-residents who work, play, or worship in the region are also invited to participate. The survey kicked off at the beginning of November 2021 and will run until the end of February 2022.
The 15-question survey is available online in both English and Spanish. It includes general questions as well as specific questions designed to collect opinions on the top health needs of the communities Bon Secours serves. It’s anonymous — the data is organized only by ZIP code — and takes less than ten minutes to complete. Along with input from local health departments, social services, school systems, community safety net providers and local governments, the survey contributes to an overall snapshot of the community.
“There are many factors that contribute to the health and overall life expectancy of a population,” said Becky Clay Christensen, executive director of community health for Bon Secours Richmond. “Our community residents and key stakeholders have been very helpful in identifying health, social and economic issues that can make community members sick.”
The most recent CHNA, which was completed in 2019, cited the area’s four significant health needs as chronic disease, behavioral health, social determinants of health (housing, transportation, safety) and stress/trauma. Bon Secours has worked diligently over the last few years to address these concerns through the execution of a three-year CHNA Implementation Plan, which detailed actions the health system would take to address these identified areas of need. Some of that work includes a partnership with, and financial contribution to, GRTC to build bus shelters in the East End; serving 13,000 vulnerable patients annually through the Care-A-Van mobile health program; the establishment of a Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program (HVIP); and investments in home ownership opportunities through the Maggie Walker Land Trust.
To access the survey in English, visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/chnasurvey2022. To access the survey in Spanish, visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/chnasurvey2022span.
