Sept. 18 forum to discuss county health profile
DOVER-FOXCROFT — Stakeholders from across the county will be given an opportunity on Tuesday, Sept. 18 to shape priorities for community health at a special forum aimed at providing input to the region’s healthcare organizations.
The forum will discuss the Piscataquis County Health Profile and is scheduled from 4-6 p.m. at the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church. The Piscataquis County Health Profile contains almost 200 data points that describe health outcomes, health behaviors, healthcare access and quality, and the social, community and physical environment that affect our health. Previous forums were held in 2011 and 2015.
Marie Vienneau, president and CEO of Mayo Regional Hospital said, “We want to share this data and get our neighbors’ input about what they see as our biggest health issues. New this year, the presentation will also include a list of past priorities and what our partners have been doing to address them. This is an exciting opportunity to discuss how we can improve the health of our community.”
The event is free and open to the public. To reserve a seat, please register at https://survey.emhs.org/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=m4K3np66L
In addition to collecting input on local health priorities, the forum will also collect information about local resources that could help to address those priorities. Forums and other community feedback will be used as guidance to create new, county-specific health improvement plans in the spring of 2019. As in the past, this forum is an important step in the Maine Shared Community Health Needs Assessment (Maine Shared CHNA).
The Maine Shared CHNA process will roll out in three stages: county health profiles are scheduled to be released in the first week of September; forums and other outreach are scheduled to be held between September and January and this includes additional community presentations, conversations and other input; and final CHNA reports are scheduled to be released in March. These reports will include the county health profiles with a summary of the findings and other outreach.
For more information, go to the Maine Shared CHNA website www.mainechna.org. The site contains forum schedules, local contacts, county health profiles and a portal for users to create their own data reports to suit their needs. The website will also host the final CHNA reports due out in March 2019. Check back often for updates.
This forum is a collaborative effort among Mayo Regional Hospital and C.A. Dean Memorial Hospital.
The Maine Shared CHNA is a unique public-private statewide collaborative effort including these local partners and is supported by Central Maine Healthcare, EMHS (to become Northern Light on Oct. 1), MaineGeneral Health, MaineHealth and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (Maine CDC). Funding for the Maine Shared CHNA is provided by the partnering healthcare systems with generous in-kind support from the Maine CDC and our community partners.