Community Health Needs Assessment

The Affordable Care Act requires all nonprofit hospitals to complete a community health needs assessment (CHNA) process every three years. A community health needs assessment is survey or questionnaire that tax-exempt hospitals are required to conduct to gauge an understanding of the specific health status, needs, and issue within a certain population or area. In turn, this information can help with developing a community health improvement plan by justifying how and where resources should be allocated to best meet community needs.

Every three years, Iowa Specialty Hospitals & Clinics and Wright County Public Health work to survey the county population to gather input on the health needs of the community's residents. Based on the assessment results, a community health improvement plan is formed in an effort to address public health issues.