ELLINWOOD — An online Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) is being conducted by the Ellinwood Hospital and Clinic. Individuals may take the survey by visiting www.surveymonkey.com/r/EllinwoodCHNA. A PDF of the assessment is also available on the hospital’s website.
Lindsey Bogner, Foundation and Marketing director for the hospital, said the information gathered from the survey will help determine the community’s health-care needs. She added that the assessment was a collaboration between the hospital and Solutions 4 Fundraising, a consultant firm used to help complete the CHNA.
“The IRS regulation is specific in what and how this is completed,” Bogner said. “We have to do a general survey and then have a town-hall-style meeting to go over the results and prioritize the needs brought up in the survey to round out the report.”
Community members are invited to the CHNA town hall meeting to discuss the survey results and community health priorities at one of two meetings to be held on Dec. 15 at the Ellinwood School/Community Library. The two meetings are scheduled for 1 and 7 p.m. RSVP is required and attendees are encouraged to practice social distancing.
Bogner noted that, following the community’s input and after the report is presented to the hospital, the hospital must respond with an action plan to the addressed needs, as they fit into what the hospital is able to provide. Bogner also said past studies and implementation plans can be found on the hospital’s website, www.ellinwooddistricthospital.org/about.
Individuals who take the CHNA will notice the broad spectrum of information covered.
“This goes over a wide range of topics; basically, anything that a community member identifies is discussed and then prioritized at the meeting,” said Bogner. “Our last CHNA identified mental health services, updated health-care facilities, awareness of services offered, pharmacy, poverty and substance abuse as the needs the community wanted the hospital to focus on.”
According to Bogner, the CHNA is required to be completed every three years. “Again, we have 2013, 2015, 2018 reports and implementation plans on our website. The current assessment report will be delivered in early 2021,” she said.
Lorri Adams, the consultant involved, organizes and performs the survey and town-hall meeting. “A hospital liaison assists as necessary, getting the survey out, scheduling the meeting, promoting both and assisting at the meeting,” said Bogner.
When asked what information the hospital hopes to obtain from the assessment, Bogner said it all starts with local awareness. “As a community hospital, we are dedicated to meeting the needs of our service area, patients and non-patients alike,” she said. “We can only do that if we get the community’s involvement and identification of the needs. We want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to improve the health of our community, so the insight gained here allows us to work on these problems.”
Every non-profit hospital is required to complete the assessment every three years, per IRS regulation, according to Bogner. She added that the survey is stretched out over a two to three month time span.
“The CHNA survey and meeting take place over a couple of months, but community feedback is always welcome,” she said. “The report itself is posted online and available in paper by request.”
According to recent past assessments, newer, updated medical buildings are a growing concern to Ellinwood residents. “Newer facilities have been a recurring community need for the last three CHNAs,” Bogner said. She added that a retail pharmacy was also identified. In response, the hospital coordinated the opening of Red Haus Pharmacy in 2019 with the assistance of the Kansas Department of Commerce Community Service Tax Credit Program and local support.
Bogner said the survey takes about five minutes to complete while the community meeting runs for about 45 minutes. She also said part of the survey conclusions will be unclear as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The format has changed for the community meeting to follow social distancing guidelines,” said Bogner.
“We aren’t sure how it (COVID-19) will impact the findings of the study.”
Kile Magner, hospital CEO, said, “Our hope is that this research allows us to coordinate the future of our facility and programs to address the unique challenges faced by our patients and our community.”
He added, “We want to hear what Ellinwood residents need. If we know the challenges faced, we can respond and address them if they are in our scope of practice.”
For more information on the CHNA, contact Bogner by calling 620-564-2548 or email lbogner@gpoe.org.
