Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop are joining together for the first time to carry out a wide-ranging regional Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) and to create a Community Health Implementation Plan (CHIP). The initiative involves major hospitals, health centers, human services organizations, and non-profits that serve the local population. These groups are collaborating with municipal officials, health departments, and the boards of health in each of the three communities to develop the plan. Area residents are being asked to take an online survey that explores local health concerns and other aspects of life in the region.
This initiative is being jointly managed by the North Suffolk Public Health Collaborative and the Mass General Hospital Center for Community Health Improvement (CCHI). The goal is to identify, rank, and tackle the most pressing health issues in each community and across the region. These assessments are frequently used to apply for funding aimed at addressing specific community needs.
Most hospitals perform a community health needs assessment every three years to satisfy requirements under the Affordable Care Act. The Massachusetts Attorney General also mandates such reports and is promoting collaboration among stakeholders, including healthcare systems that operate in the same service areas. “This is
one of the first regional assessments of its type in Massachusetts,” said Jeff Stone, Director of the North Suffolk Public Health Collaborative. “Mayor
Arrigo, Chelsea City Manager Tom Ambrosino and Winthrop Town Manager Austin
Faison realize that public health conditions don’t respect borders, and,
working together we can solve some of our health challenges more effectively.”
“The North Suffolk
Community Health Needs Assessment is critical for the City of Chelsea,” said
City Manager Ambrosino. “Not only will it provide the information necessary for
Chelsea to better understand our residents’ public health needs, but it will
also enable us to properly prioritize resources to better address those needs.
We encourage all of our residents to participate in upcoming surveys, forums
and interviews.”
The timeline set by the partners is ambitious. The CHNA and CHIP are expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2019, and will produce a three-year guide for a community health improvement plan that all providers can use. The process involves extensive data collection, including hundreds of resident surveys, interviews, focus groups, and data gathered from other agencies such as the MA Department of Public Health and the US Census.
A website, www.northsuffolkassessment.org, has been launched to provide information to the public. Residents and workers in Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop are encouraged to take the survey, which is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic, reflecting the languages most commonly spoken in the area.