Coffey Health System

Coffey County, Kansas
Community Health Needs Assessment 2018

Background
A Community Health Needs Assessment is a component of the Affordable Care Act established to promote a proactive stance regarding population health. Such assessments are required every three years for county health departments and not-for-profit hospitals/systems.

This marks the first time time the Coffey County Health Department and Coffey Health System fully partnered to conduct a fully integrated health needs assessment. Coffey County Health Department Administrator Lindsay Payer and Coffey Health System Director of Marketing Tracy Campbell were appointed to lead the process, which began in October 2016.

Research
Data from a variety of local, state, and national sources was gathered with assistance from the Kansas Health Institute. All data reflected the health of Coffey County residents only, regardless of where they receive treatment; likewise, statistics garnered from Coffey Health System/Coffey County Hospital included only patients with Coffey County addresses.

Community Engagement Events
Two evenings of community engagement activities were facilitated by Sonya Armbruster of the Wichita State University Community Engagement Institute. Payer and Campbell led a discussion of Coffey County health statistics as presented in the afore-mentioned infographics.

Following exercises to help the group focus on forces of change within our community, Armbruster led participants through prioritizing health-related issues in Coffey County. Priority health issues are children’s health, chronic disease, aging. (Socio-economics was voted as the top priority. These factors are addressed within the context of each priority health issue.)

Costs related to the community event and printing expenses were covered by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Analysis
Focus groups were utilized to gain a first-hand perspective of the key health priorities. Three separate focus groups were recruited consisting of patients, parents, caregivers, practitioners, educators, and others. Each group met twice and provided a deeper understanding–and in some cases, unexpected–perspective.

Looking Ahead
A three-pronged approach to the future has evolved from this process. This report concludes with recommended action items broken down in table format. Each table includes specific action items that are already underway or can be taken at the community level as well as by the Coffey County Health Department and Coffey Health System, respectively.

Click here to download the Community Health Needs Assessment Report