Memorial Healthcare has published its 2019 Shiawassee County Community Health Needs Assessment, which is conducted every three years to identify health and wellness trends, issues, and concerns around topics like health care access and utilization, preventive medicine, health status perceptions, drug and alcohol use, and more.
“The data and findings from this report are incredibly valuable in supporting Memorial Healthcare’s mission of providing world-class, patient-centric services to individuals in mid-Michigan and beyond,” said Brian Long, FACHE, president and CEO of Memorial Healthcare. “Just as findings from the 2016 report led to the creation of Memorial Healthcare’s Pain Management clinic and our strategic expansion into new markets, we look forward to utilizing findings from the 2019 report to assess what’s working and where we can make adjustments to directly meet the health and wellness needs of the community.”
Memorial Healthcare also recently broke ground on a new $30 million Community Wellness Center in Owosso to provide community members with new resources to aid in their quest for improved health and well-being – a project informed by previous Community Health Needs Assessment reports.
Key findings from the 2019 report include:
- 79% of adults visited a doctor in the past year for a routine checkup, which is up from 70% in 2016.
- 77% of adults were overweight or obese based on body mass index (BMI)
- Adult respondents rated their health status as Excellent or Very Good (44%), Good (41%), or Fair/Poor (15%).
- 48% of adults reported being limited by an impairment or health problem, including back or neck problems (49%), arthritis/rheumatism (34%), and chronic pain (34%).
The 2019 Community Health Needs Assessment was created in collaboration with the Shiawassee County Health Department and the Shiawassee Community Health Needs Assessment Team. Data was gathered from written surveys distributed to adults (ages 19 and older) in Shiawassee County between February and April 2019. Surveys were mailed to 1,200 adults, with responses needed from at least 382 adults to ensure a 95% confidence level with a corresponding margin of error of 5%. The questions were modeled after survey instruments used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for their national and state Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). In addition, the Community Health Needs Assessment contains youth data from a sample of 7th, 9th and 11th grade students in Shiawassee County using the Michigan Profile for Healthy Youth survey (MiPHY).
Key findings from the youth data include:
- 33% of 7th graders and 37% of 9th and 11th graders are obese or overweight.
- 30% of 9th and 11th graders have tried smoking.
- 16% of 7th graders and 35% of 9th and 11th graders have used an electronic vapor during the past month.
- 45% of 9th and 11th graders felt sad or hopeless.
- 28% of 9th and 11th graders seriously considered attempting suicide in the past 12 months, with 14% attempting suicide one or more times during that time period.
To download the full 2019 Community Health Needs Assessment, click here.
About Memorial Healthcare
Memorial Healthcare is a 161-bed non-profit facility located in Shiawassee County, Michigan. Each year, Memorial cares for nearly 30,000 emergency patients, provides more than 200,000 outpatient service visits and delivers hospital-based medical services to more than 3,500 inpatients. Our mission is to promote health and wellness through quality, compassionate health care with a commitment to service excellence, teamwork and innovation. For more information visit https://www.memorialhealthcare.org.
Media Contacts:
Chris Austin
Airfoil Group
248-304-1447
Memorial@airfoilgroup.com
Vicki McKay
Memorial Healthcare
989-729-4514
Vmckay@memorialhealthcare.org
