By Rhys Baker

As part of the Affordable Care Act, the IRS requires hospitals like Clay County Medical Center to conduct a Community Health Needs Assessment every three years and implement strategies to meet the needs identified through the assessment. Marketing, Communications, and Foundation Director for Clay County Medical Center Bryce Dolan says “We are going to be issuing this assessment in the next month, September. We want to get results back in two to really three months at the latest. So we are looking to come out with all the results and analyzing the data at the beginning of next year.”

In the 2022 assessment, Clay Countians prioritized healthy lifestyles and behavior, parks and recreation availability, and affordable housing. The underlying health concerns include alcohol, tobacco, and drug use in underage citizens and adults; nutrition and exercise; and students dropping out of school. Dolan says this year’s survey will have some additional questions. “Particularly pertaining to behavioral or mental health, with our upcoming project with the mental health clinic, we thought it was important to ask the community if they felt there were appropriate resources dealing with addiction, marriage counseling, depression, and other sorts of mental health issues.”

The 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment also identified barriers including Openness to Change, Funding for healthy initiatives, and community awareness. The 2024 assessment questionnaire and results will be available on the Clay County Medical Center website.