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Memorial Hospital To Organize Mount Washington Valley Community Health Engagement Forum

MaineHealth’s Deb Deatrick presents at the 2015 Community Health Needs Forum. ~ Photo courtesy of Rachel Damon

NORTH CONWAY, NH –   Memorial Hospital is inviting stakeholders from across the Mount Washington Valley to join them on Wednesday November 14, 2018, to shape priorities for community health at a special forum aimed at providing input to the region’s healthcare organizations.

The Mt. Washington Valley Health Collaboration will be hosting this forum to present Carroll County health data as part of the  Community Health Needs Assessment. The purpose of this forum is to identify health priorities for our county and to identify together what you think is important in addressing the health of our community.

The forum will discuss the Carroll County and Oxford County (Maine) Health Profile and is scheduled for November 14, 3:00 – 5:00pm at Red Jacket Mountain View Resort, 2251 White Mountain Highway, North Conway.  The Carroll/Oxford County Health Profiles contain 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. A previous forum was held in 2015.

Sue Ruka, Director of Population Health at Memorial 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.”

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 shaping a Carroll County Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA). The final CHNA report is scheduled to be released in March 2019. This report will include the County Health Profile with a summary of the findings and other outreach.

A schedule as well more details about the forum can be found at http://bit.ly/MemorialCHNA. The website will also host the final CHNA report due out in March, 2019.

The event is free and open to the public. To reserve a seat, you can register online at http://bit.ly/2019MemorialCHNA

The Carroll County Community Engagement CHNA is made possible through the support and collaboration of our Community Health Collaboration partners including Memorial Hospital, Saco River Medical Group, Visiting Nurses Home Care & Hospice of Carroll County, Children Unlimited, Carroll County Coalition for Public Health, White Mountain Community Health Center, T. Murray Wellness Center, Inc., The Gibson Center, Genesis, Northern Human Services, and countless dedicated community member organizations.

Story Contributed to by:
Kathy Bennett
ice President – Community Relations & Development
kbennett@memorialhospitalnh.org