Community Health Needs Assessment
As a non-profit hospital, Lawrence General Hospital is required to complete a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) report every three years and use it to create an Implementation Strategy and Community Benefits programming aimed at top health needs over the following three years. The CHNA process uses surveys, focus groups, interviews, and publicly available data to identify, analyze, and prioritize the top health needs of residents across the hospital’s service area.
The hospital typically engages with a skilled consulting group to complete the CHNA and create a report that is shared publicly on our website.
You can read the hospital’s latest CHNA reports below.
The CHNA helps the hospital and our community partners to:
- Identify Health Priorities: The CHNA clearly identifies and prioritizes top health needs in the communities we serve, from chronic diseases like diabetes or heart disease to social determinants of health, like access to food and housing, and informs the Implementation Strategy. You can read the hospital’s 2023-2025 Implementation Strategy here (see appendix E, page 93).
- Allocate Resources: By understanding top health needs the hospital can determine how best to allocate available resources to support the Implementation Strategy.
- Inform Health Policy and Planning: Data gathered through CHNAs informs public health policies, program development, and strategic planning, leading to more effective health interventions and services at the state and local levels.
- Engage the Community: The process of completing a CHNA involves community members and leaders in identifying their own health needs, fostering greater community engagement and ownership in health initiatives.
- Enhance Collaboration: The hospital’s CHNA process involves multiple stakeholders, including healthcare providers, non-profit organizations, and local governments, promoting collaboration on efforts to address top health needs.
2022 CHNA Report (Appendices)
2019 CHNA Report
2016 CHNA Report
2013 CHNA Report