HAN member systems SSM Health and BJC HealthCare are partnering with Mercy, St. Luke’s Hospital, and Shriners Children’s St. Louis on their Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) to have a focus on upstream determinants of health and community involvement, which will include community surveys and a series of community listening sessions.From the St. Louis Public Radio story:
Dr. Alexander Garza, the chief community health officer at SSM Health:
“There are also some policy elements that have to be engaged as well whether that is better funding for education or for job training, the upstream things that really impact the social determinants.”
Karen Bradshaw, regional director of community health at SSM Health:
“We’re leaning more and more into the SDOH factors . . . where we in community health can make the biggest impact.”
“With the equity lens, it means always stopping and asking “Who’s not in this room? Who’s voice isn’t here? How do we bring that in because community is the expert so if they’re not there from the start, then we have to figure out how to do that.”