Monday, July 9, 2018 ST. JOHNSBURY, VT (July 9, 2018) – Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital (NVRH) just released the 2018 community health needs assessment. The assessment provides a comprehensive look at the status of health, as well as resources and community assets in the NVRH service area of Caledonia and southern Essex counties. This is the third needs assessment completed under the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. The assessment identified low income residents and older adults as the most at risk for poor health outcomes. This is similar to findings in the rest of Vermont. Access to primary care and mental health services continues to be a priority for residents. Obesity rates among adults remains high at thirty-one percent. Only about half of adults, and about one in five teens meets the guidelines for physical activity. The NVRH community health needs assessment was informed by data supplied by a variety of sources including the Vermont Department of Health, the Vermont Agency of Human Services, the County Health Rankings, and numerous state and national reports. A complete list of data and the sources is included in the assessment. “The rate of suicides, and the amount of young people with a suicide plan in our region as reported in this assessment is a concern to me,” said NVRH CEO Paul Bengtson. “We are working with many partners in the region on these important issues.” New this year, the NVRH community health needs assessment includes the framework of NEK Prosper, the Caledonia and Southern Essex Accountable Health Community. NEK Prosper includes a wide range of community partners with the goal of a region where everyone is well-nourished, well-housed, physically healthy, mentally healthy, and financially secure. -more- The NVRH community health needs assessment was produced with help from a steering community that included health and human service professionals and NVRH staff and board of trustees. “Community participation is important as we look to identify our strengths, gaps in services, and resources,” said Laural Ruggles, Director of Community Health Improvement at NVRH. “We held several focus groups, forums with community stakeholders, and distributed surveys in order to get broad community input.” An implementation plan, a companion piece to the needs assessment, outlines the hospital’s plan to address the health needs of the community will be available later this summer. To download a copy of the NVRH Community Health Needs Assessment visit https://www.nvrh.org/community-health-needs-assessment. For a printed copy, call Laural Ruggles at 748-7590. | 
