Sheridan Memorial Hospital’s recently conducted Community Health Needs Assessment has underscored the pressing significance of mental health as a major concern within the region.
With over 500 responses providing valuable data, the hospital’s report has highlighted the need for comprehensive initiatives to address mental health issues.
Kristen Czaban, Director of Marketing and Communications at SMH, emphasized that this finding resonates with the hospital’s strategic plan for 2023-26, which aims to tackle mental health challenges in the community.
Survey Declares Mental Health As A Major Concern
The outcomes of this survey will play a pivotal role in guiding the hospital’s staff and leadership in refining existing services and introducing new ones.
Mike McCafferty, CEO of the hospital, stressed the collaborative nature of this endeavor, as the hospital collaborates with various community entities to ensure a patient-centered approach to addressing the identified concerns.
He noted, “The Center for a Vital Community has done a lot of work around what the needs of the community are and one of the things that they brought forth was the need for more effective and more systematic care for people with mental illness… There’s so many people in the community that are involved, and I think it lines up so well.”
The survey outcomes highlighted several health aspects in which SMH’s service area scored lower than the state of Wyoming as a whole.
These included alcohol-induced deaths, pneumonia and influenza deaths, lung disease, obesity rates, depression, fall-related deaths, high blood pressure, and accessibility to grocery stores.
Mental health concerns were just one facet of the assessment, with other issues of moderate concern including access to healthcare, substance use, nutrition, physical activity, weight management, disabling conditions, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke, and social determinants of health.
Mike McCafferty shed light on the broader community challenges, stating, “Food insecurity is not something that we think about very often because it doesn’t impact us in this room, but when you go out and engage yourself in the community, you learn pretty quickly that there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed with different populations.
Substance abuse, mental illness, and drug abuse, are all things that all of the people in this room see on a daily basis… They know it exists, and I think we’re doing things to try to address not only the high-level medical needs.
The five leading causes of death, but also the community needs, the social needs of the community, to [more] effectively take care of this community.”
Kristen Czaban emphasized that the survey’s insights will play a pivotal role in finalizing the hospital’s strategic plan for 2023-26 and shaping future decisions.
Collaborating with community partners, the hospital aims to ensure that patient-centered care is consistently delivered to meet the needs identified in the assessment.
The survey’s outcomes not only shed light on areas of concern but also empower the hospital and its partners to develop a more comprehensive approach to healthcare delivery, considering both medical and community needs.
