ASHLAND — A new Community Needs Health Assessment is planned for Ashland County this fall, according to Steve Stone, executive director of the county’s Mental Health and Recovery Board.
Stone made a presentation on the planned assessment Tuesday evening during an Ashland County commissioners’ meeting in the Ashland City Schools Administrative Office Building.
Stone was joined by Kathy Witmer, director of communication and development for University Hospitals Samaritan Medical Center, and Mark Burgess, director of human relations and safety for the City of Ashland.
Stone said the last county-wide health assessment was done in 2015 and identified four key health-related themes: opiate/drug abuse problem, poverty, health & wellness and violence across the lifespan.
Good work is still being done in these areas, according to Stone, who said these assessments must be updated periodically and a planning group was established to lead the effort.
He said the group has selected the Hospital Association of Northwest Ohio to conduct the survey, which will be done via mailings to county adults and by surveying middle-school and high-school students across the county.
“This is a really important process for the community,” Stone said. “(The Hospital Association of Northwest Ohio) has been doing these surveys for many years and have tremendous expertise.”
The surveys will generate a report that will become the basis for an updated community health improvement plan, Stone said. The surveys will be done in the fall and the report generated by next spring.
“There is a broad interest in this type of information,” Stone said.
The assessment will cost $66,000. Stone said UH Samaritan will cover half of the cost. He said the county health department has agreed to pay $15,000 and the mental health and recovery board has committed $10,000.
That leaves $8,000 and the trio asked the county commissioners for financial assistance.
Commissioner Denny Bittle said commissioners were willing to assist and he would ask the City of Ashland to share in covering the remaining costs.
“I believe it’s a county-wide effort,” Bittle said.
