Taylorville Memorial Hospital is asking residents of Christian County to complete a short survey about health issues in their communities. The survey will be used to guide the hospital’s community health efforts for the next three years.
Nonprofit hospitals like TMH are required by the Affordable Care Act to conduct a Community Health Needs Assessment every three years to identify specific health priorities within the county where that hospital is located. The hospitals use that data to develop a Community Health Implementation Plan to address the selected priorities.
The survey, available at memorial.health/chna-feedback/, is an important part of Memorial Health’s Community Health Needs Assessments. People who do not have internet access can complete the survey by contacting TMH community health coordinator Jay Boulanger at 217-707-5258.
“Each county we serve has unique health needs,” said Kim Bourne, president and CEO of Taylorville Memorial Hospital. “Input from local residents is crucial to identifying those needs and formulating plans to address them.”
During the previous Community Health Needs Assessment in 2021, public input led Taylorville Memorial Hospital to select mental health, obesity and lung health as priorities for Christian County. That input sparked the creation of initiatives like anti-vaping programming for middle-schoolers and a community garden at Taylorville Memorial Hospital that provides fresh produce for local food banks.
“The survey takes only a few minutes to complete, but it can have a huge impact on the health of our communities,” Bourne said.