Identifying Health Resources and Community Perceptions in the Greater New Haven Area

As required by new laws of the Affordable Care Act, non-profit hospitals are required to produce a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) on a triennial basis in order to receive Medicaid funding, among others. Identification of community health assets is now a requirement by the IRS, in order for the hospital to keep their non-profit status. Community asset mapping (CAM) is an important new component of the community health needs assessment required by the Affordable Care Act for non-profit hospitals. CAM allows these hospitals and the communities they serve to identify key fixtures in their communities that can be leveraged to promote better health and well-being, especially when external resources (e.g. grants) are not available. In partnership with Yale New Haven Health and UnitedWay 2-1-1, we compiled health assets from various towns and communities in the broad Connecticut region. They were classified into six broad areas of need. We conducted interviews with community leaders and residents from the Greater New Haven area, more specifically the West River neighborhood. We hoped to gather insight and perceptions of residents about health assets in their area. Lastly, we generated asset heat maps with GIS to visualize health asset service areas and possibly identify areas of need. Our project sought to expand upon the scope of the mandated CHNA to include community input. Outside of the list of health assets, we went a step further to try to identify possible areas of need based on low coverage by assets on the heat maps.https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ysph_pbchrr/1028/thumbnail.jp

Yale New Haven Health Partnership Evaluation Pilot: Yale New Haven Hospital and Healthier Greater New Haven Partnership

In 2010, new regulations associated with the Affordable Care Act mandated hospitals to demonstrate their involvement in community benefits programs to keep their tax-exempt status. This included implementation of a community needs assessment, a community health improvement plan (CHIP), and an evaluation of the implemented plan demonstrating efforts to meet the goals of the CHIP. The Healthier Greater New Haven Partnership is a coalition of more than sixty individuals and organizations working collaboratively within the Greater New Haven area to improve the health and quality of life in the community. The Partnership’s current CHIP is the result of a community health needs assessment conducted in 2015 and implemented in 2016. A CHIP outlines the priority health issues for a defined community, and how the issues will be addressed, including specific goals, strategies, measurable indicators (short and long-term), action steps and partners. The priority areas are Access to Care, Healthy Lifestyles and Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Conducting program evaluation is critical in obtaining feedback from the partnership which builds trust and specifies how the Partnership can improve. The majority of partnership members surveyed agreed that the partnership is diverse and functioning effectively and more than 90% believed that partnership is serving as a catalyst for positive change related to the health and well-being in the Greater New Haven area. There were areas identified for improvement, which will be implemented in the future as circumstances allow. The Data Dashboard is a necessary step in tracking the progress of the CHIP in the short- and long-term.https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ysph_pbchrr/1048/thumbnail.jp

Identifying the Community Health Needs in the Yale New Haven Health System: Key Priorities, Barriers to Health, and Recommendations

Bridgeport Hospital, Greenwich Hospital, and Yale-New Haven Hospital are nonprofit hospitals that are part of the Yale New Haven Health System (YNHHS). Table 1 outlines the towns covered by each hospital’s service delivery network. In order for nonprofit hospitals to remain tax-exempt, they must comply with federal requirements to provide “community benefits,” as outlined in Section 9007 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). One provision outlined in the ACA requires nonprofit hospitals to “give increased attention to working with others to determine community health needs and take action to meet those needs”. This requirement is fulfilled in part by the triennial completion of a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) with community partners. This report presents findings from the first stage of the second round of the community health improvement coalitions, which include all three YNHHS hospitals, CHNA: the key informant interviews. These interviews incorporate input from persons representing the broad community served by the hospitals, focusing on a range of public health issues relevant to the community at large. Input was gathered through an online survey of key informant perceptions surrounding community health. Key informants comprised two groups: (1) Health and Human Service representatives and (2) Government and Community Leader representatives. This report outlines the top health issues and barriers to good health in the communities served as identified and prioritized by key informants, as well as suggestions they have to address these concerns.https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ysph_pbchrr/1014/thumbnail.jp