Input sought for hospital's needs assessment

Clark Fork Valley Hospital is gearing up for their 2023 Community Health Needs Assessment and is asking community members to participate in a county wide survey focusing on healthcare.

“Living in a rural community has its challenges but we do our best at CFVH to address the ones specifically impacting our friends and neighbors here in Sanders County when it comes to healthcare,” explained Janie Hom, CFVH Health

Improvement Specialist.

A CHNA is a requirement of compliance for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and also allows the hospital an opportunity to gather data to determine:

1) what health issues community members are facing,

2) potential areas for improvement and

3) opportunities for growth and strategic partnership.

CHNAs require feedback from a variety of sources. Informational interviews and a public survey will be conducted with stakeholders and members of the Sanders County community. Generally, the interviewees include persons with special knowledge or expertise in public health and persons who represent the medically underserved and vulnerable populations in Sanders County, while the survey is available for all Sanders County residents to provide feedback. 

The CFVH 2023 CHNA Survey is now open and available online at www.cfvh.org/news/releases/2023-chna. It should only take 10 -15 minutes to complete and the only eligibility requirements are that you are 18 years of age or older and reside in Sanders County, Montana more than 6 months out of the year.

“After the CHNA is completed, we will develop an implementation plan including both short and long term goals where we feel we can make the most impact,” Hom shared.

Findings from past CHNAs identified several key issues facing local residents.

Some examples include:

 Social determinants of health (transportation, housing and poverty)

 Access to care (underinsured, cost of care, lack of availability of services)

 Chronic conditions requiring specialists or treatments not available locally

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Janie Hom, CFVH

Health Improvement Specialist at 406-826-4669, Jhom@cfvh.org.

The deadline for the survey is Nov. 18, 2022.