Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Sep-Oct;28(5):E764-E767.
doi: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000001568.

The Role of Local Health Departments in Strengthening the Alignment Between Nonprofit Hospitals' Community Health Needs Assessments and Their Implementation Strategies

Simone R Singh  1 , Cory E Cronin, Valerie Yeager, Ashlyn Burns, Berkeley Franz
Affiliations

The Role of Local Health Departments in Strengthening the Alignment Between Nonprofit Hospitals' Community Health Needs Assessments and Their Implementation Strategies

Simone R Singh et al. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2022 Sep-Oct.

Abstract

Nonprofit hospitals frequently partner with their local health department on developing community health needs assessments (CHNAs); yet, little is known about the role that such partnerships play in strengthening the alignment between needs identified in hospitals' assessments and the strategies adopted by hospitals to address identified needs. Using data for 486 hospitals from the third round of CHNAs (spanning the years 2018-2021), this study showed strong alignment between the health needs identified in the CHNAs and those addressed in hospitals' implementation strategies, independent of collaboration with the local health department. One noteworthy exception to this finding was that hospital-public health collaboration remained important for improved alignment of needs related to substance use. Involvement of the local health department may strengthen hospitals' capacity to address needs outside their traditional areas of expertise, such as substance use.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Franz B, Cronin CE, Singh SR. Are nonprofit hospitals addressing the most critical community health needs that they identify in their community health needs assessments? J Public Health Manag Pract. 2021;27(1):80–87.
    1. Carroll-Scott A, Henson RM, Kolker J, Purtle J. The role of nonprofit hospitals in identifying and addressing health inequities in cities. Health Aff (Millwood). 2017;36(6):1102–1109.
    1. Powell RE, Doty AM, Rising KL, Karp DN, Baehr A, Carr BG. A content analysis of nonprofit hospital community health needs assessments and community benefit implementation strategies in Philadelphia. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2018;24(4):326–334.
    1. Pennel CL, McLeroy KR, Burdine JN, Matarrita-Cascante D. Nonprofit hospitals' approach to community health needs assessment. Am J Public Health. 2015;105(3):e103–e113.
    1. Carlton EL, Singh SR. Joint community health needs assessments as a path for coordinating community-wide health improvement efforts between hospitals and local health departments. Am J Public Health. 2018;108(8):676–682.