Reports

Community Health Needs Assessment

The Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) process, described in detail through the rest of this assessment, served to identify the priority health needs for the 75,000 individuals living with Southwestern Vermont Medical Center’s (SVMC) service area. Through five community forums, a digital survey, insight from subject matter experts, and secondary data, a variety of health needs were identified and researched. These needs were scored and prioritized using a framework that considered the scope and severity of the need, SVMC’s ability to impact the need, and the existence of evidence based interventions that can affect change to meet the need.

This scoring resulted in the priority health needs listed and detailed below. The need across all four priorities is greatest within youth and young adults (ages 13 to 34) who, across all data sources, indicated challenges with meeting basic needs, a high rate of psychological distress, struggles with substance use, barriers to healthy behaviors, and difficulties accessing health care.