Addison County health assessment names health care access, housing and behavioral health as top priorities

Amanda Freshley and Emma Cho presented the 2024 Addison County Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) at the Addison County Regional Planning Commission meeting on Nov. 13, saying the report identifies health care access, housing and mental health/substance-use services as the three priorities the community will target in the next three-year Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP).

Freshley, a senior community health liaison who works at the Health Network and Porter, said the CHNA used a mixed-methods approach—an online and in-person community survey, secondary datasets and focus groups—and yielded more than 1,000 completed survey responses, up from roughly 700 in the prior cycle. “The community health needs assessment is an IRS requirement under the Affordable Care Act,” Freshley said, explaining the hospital-driven process that feeds the CHIP and local planning efforts.

The assessment identified six high-level priorities; county stakeholders narrowed the upcoming CHIP work plan to three:…