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Live Well Mohave CHA finds access to care, education and youth supports are top priorities
Summary
The Live Well Mohave community health assessment found access to specialist and primary care, education, and youth supports as the top priorities for the 2025–2028 Community Health Improvement Plan.
Kingman Regional Medical Center and Mohave County Department of Public Health presented findings from the 2024 Community Health Assessment and the 2025–2028 Community Health Improvement Plan, part of the Live Well Mohave initiative. Presenters said the process combined 1,474 community surveys, 37 key‑informant interviews and seven focus groups across Mohave County.
Dr. Anthony Santarelli summarized survey results that show residents identify access to specialist care as a major gap: “About 40 percent of individuals indicated an inability to access specialist medical care,” he said. Respondents also cited difficulty accessing primary care, dental care and mental‑health services. For specialist and emergency care the most common reason given was limited local availability; for dental and mental health, economic barriers and insurance navigation were prominent.
The assessment used federal shortage designations and a specialist‑gap methodology to estimate provider shortfalls; presenters said Mohave County is a Health Professional Shortage Area for primary care, mental health and dental services and that shortfalls exist for specialists including psychiatry, obstetrics/gynecology and ophthalmology.
Community priorities the assessment recommended for 2025–2028 are: improve access to care (including specialist recruitment and care coordination), boost education and health literacy (including professional pathways and community education), and expand youth activities and support (noting a 45.8 percent childcare gap and high childcare costs for families). The county described ongoing implementation activities: an access‑to‑care coalition working with insurers to help coordinate referrals, nutrition and community‑garden initiatives, stigma‑reduction training expanded countywide, and plans for health‑education internships and youth‑activity coordination.
Ending: Presenters asked for continued stakeholder participation and said finalized CHA and CHIP documents are available online; the board received the reports as information.
