Understanding the barriers that prevent individuals and families from accessing healthcare is essential to identifying the needs of a community and meeting those needs. OSF HealthCare compiles that data through a Community Needs Assessment Survey, explains Manager of the Community Resource Center Jessie Boock:
“We want to know community-wide what are barriers to healthcare, what do we need for you to live healthy lives. Accessibility, food insecurity, all of those areas. That is put together by a community group that is made up of county health departments, our food pantries; we want to know community-wide what is going to make our community healthier. When we have those patient satisfaction surveys, those are important data driven tools that help us also make those changes to improve services and also make sure that our patients are able to have healthy lives as well.”
The next Community Needs Assessment Survey with OSF HealthCare will take place in 2027.
