Taylorville Memorial Hospital and the Christian County Health Department are seeking input from the public to assess the health needs of the residents of Christian County.

Nonprofit hospitals must complete a community health needs assessment every three years, a requirement of the Affordable Care Act of 2010. County health departments are required by the Illinois Department of Public Health to do a similar assessment every five years.

Christian County residents will be able to identify pressing community health needs through an online survey, which went live today and will be open until Feb. 12. Residents can take the survey at go.uis.edu/chna.

The survey research department at the University of Illinois at Springfield will conduct the online survey.

Printed copies of the survey also will be available to various community organizations to distribute to residents who don't have access to a computer. Printed copies are available at the Christian County Health Department, 902 W. Springfield Road, Taylorville, from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, and at Taylorville Memorial Hospital, 201 E. Pleasant St.

Following the survey, the university will provide the hospital and the health department with an outcomes report. The two organizations will determine which health priorities they should address over the next three years and how to implement those priorities. Those priorities will be announced in late 2018.

In 2015, Taylorville Memorial Hospital selected three health priorities on which it would focus for three years. Those priorities were obesity, access to care and mental health.