Petersburg Medical Center board adopts five strategies from community health needs assessment

The Petersburg Medical Center (PMC) Board of Directors voted April 24 to adopt five implementation strategies recommended in the hospital’s 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment, a step the board was told is required by the Internal Revenue Service for nonprofit hospitals.

The strategies — increasing availability of comprehensive local health services, reducing barriers to existing services, mitigating the impact of rising costs on health, expanding behavioral health capacity and access, and addressing the needs of older and disabled adults — will guide PMC’s work for the next three years, presenters told the board.

Katie Umland, a PMC staff member who led the assessment presentation, said the process combined internal hospital data, state and national surveillance, 19 stakeholder interviews and a community survey. Umland said the survey was not a statistically representative sample but that participation increased from 2022 and roughly mirrored U.S. Census estimates for Petersburg. She told the board the hospital will publish the full report next month and asked the board to adopt the strategies by May 15 to meet IRS timing requirements.

Umland summarized five priority findings from the assessment: many residents need comprehensive, modern local health care; community members need information and support to access services; rising costs are limiting access; behavioral health — especially substance misuse — is the community’s top health concern; and older adults need equitable access to local services.

Survey highlights Umland cited included: 65% of respondents said there were times their families could not get needed health care locally in the prior year; over half identified substance use as a top health problem; 45% reported traveling specifically to get an MRI; and 2 in 5 respondents said their families had trouble affording needed services last year.

Umland described proposed initiatives tied to each strategy: expand local diagnostic and specialty clinics and telehealth integration; strengthen patient navigation and public messaging about services; support local efforts to reduce food insecurity, housing instability and childcare gaps; increase local prevention, treatment and recovery services for substance misuse and suicide prevention; and assess and expand services for older and disabled adults. Each initiative was presented with a 1–3 year timeframe and proposed success measures such as availability and meaningful access to services.

Board member Joe moved approval of the implementation strategies and a second was recorded. The board approved the motion by voice vote.

Several board members asked clarifying questions before the vote. Board member Joe asked whether approval would require new hires; Phil and Jason, hospital executives, said many initiatives align with PMC’s existing strategic objectives and grant-funded programs and that embedding the strategies into current work was the immediate intent. Board members also noted existing community partnerships, including the Petersburg Community Foundation, and requested that future implementation items include measurable objectives and references to planned community events such as a health fair.

The board’s adoption completes the governing-entity step the hospital needs to record on the IRS form that documents compliance with the CHNA requirement. Umland said the finalized implementation plan and the full needs assessment will be posted on PMC’s website next month.

Board action and procedural note: the motion to adopt the implementation strategies was moved by Joe and seconded; the vote was taken by voice and recorded in the meeting minutes as in favor.