HOISINGTON — Clara Barton Hospital hosted a town hall meeting on March 1 at the Hoisington Activity Center, where hospital health-care officials were joined by representatives of the City of Hoisington, Barton County Health Department, USD 431, and citizens of the area to discuss the results of the recently completed community health needs survey which produced over 293 respondents.
“Our strategic approach included the evaluation of county health statistics as well as survey results which were then put to a vote by those in attendance,” Clara Barton CEO James Blackwell said.
Data presentation was summarized by Vince Vandehaar of Vandehaar Marketing, Olathe.
Greater access to mental health services ranked the highest while reducing substance abuse ranked second. Nursing home access, transportation to health-care services, access to specialists, and dental care for the under-insured rounded out the top six items discussed.
“We will be spending the next few weeks developing an implementation plan and then put it into action,” Blackwell said.
Clara Barton Hospital performs a health needs assessment every three years as required by the Affordable Care Act, with the last being performed in 2015. Decreasing obesity and diabetic education were the top two health needs identified in that survey.
“We have implemented several meaningful initiatives since that time that have driven local options which focus on healthy eating habits and regular exercise,” Blackwell said.