HEALTH NEEDS STUDY TO START

A community health assessment will be the first step in a new effort to determine Cape Girardeau County's health-care needs and assets.

The Healthier Communities Committee will hold a kick-off meeting Oct. 19 at 4:15 p.m. at Drury Lodge.

The committee is made up of representatives of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, the Cape Girardeau County Area Medical Society Inc., the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center, the Community Caring Council, St. Francis Medical Center, Southeast Missouri Hospital and Southeast Missouri State University. It was formed in response to the state's CHART (Community Health Assessment Resource Team) project, said Charlotte Craig, director of the county health center.

The state designed the project as a way for communities to "begin taking care of themselves" in planning for health-care needs, Craig said.

"We need to look at things like: What does the community have available? What is your definition of community? Is it the city of Cape Girardeau? Is it Cape Girardeau County? Does it take in Bollinger County, too? You have to look at all of those things and define what health care means to you. Is it just taking care of head colds and the flu or is it more than that?" she said.

The Healthier Communities Committee will host a series of public meetings to get input from residents on what they feel is good or bad about health care in the community, Craig said.

"We don't know what the community's needs are. We know real generic needs. Teen pregnancy, yes, is an issue, but the community has to decide itself what its needs are. It's like a parent not being able to make all the decisions for a child, and we're in no way in a parental role. We have to decide what our needs are from the business community on down," she said.

It's important that all facets of the community work together, she said, because each can contribute its own perspective on strengths and weaknesses in services available.

Data from several previous surveys will be used in the assessment process as well, she said, "so that we don't re-invent the wheel."

The Community Caring Council is spearheading the committee's work, said Shirley Ramsey, the council's executive coordinator.

"We're very excited that it's happening, that it's going to be something that will benefit the community in many ways," Ramsey said. "We have a very strong health-related community here. I think in the past they haven't always worked together."

The community assessment, she said, will be one way for providers to band together to meet health-care needs "and find ways to enhance their services. I think it's really going to help in that way."

No timeframe has been established for completion of the assessment, committee members said.

The state's CHART project was organized to assist communities in assessing existing services, developing health plans to meet community needs, improving health status in communities and developing effective links among local health-care providers, said Nanci Gonder, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Health.