(Cleveland) - The MetroHealth System has released its Community Health Needs Assessment, identifying Cuyahoga County's most pressing health-related needs.
The results of the study will determine where MetroHealth will focus its community engagement work in the coming years.
The 5 key areas of focus are:
*Infant mortality
*The opioid epidemic
*Racial and ethnic disparities in chronic disease outcomes for patients
*Community building in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood
*Addressing community trauma in East Side neighborhoods
Karen Cook is manager of Metrohealth's Community Health Advocacy Initiative, and tells Newsradio WTAM 1100, working with the Center for Community Solutions, they examined data on factors that influence health, overall health outcomes and unmet needs of the community.
The Community Engagement Committee of the MetroHealth Board of Trustees commissioned the study and led the effort to identify Cuyahoga County’s most pressing needs.
Cook says, though MetroHealth already has several programs in place to address some of these needs, the study confirms those needs and points to others.
MetroHealth plans to develop specific strategies to address the priorities and identify metrics to measure results.
(Photos courtesy MetroHealth Medical Center)
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