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Health & Public Safety <br />4.00 p.m. <br />May 20, 2013 <br />Committee Members Present: Karen White, Tim Scott, Dr. Varner (4:30 p.m.) <br />Other Council Present: Gavin Ferlic <br />Others Present: Dr. Felger, St. Joseph County Health Department, Jack Smith, Patti Willard <br />Agenda: Community Needs Assessment — Dr. Margo DeMont, Executive Director Memorial <br />Hospital /Beacon Health System <br />Karen White, Chairperson of the Health and Public Safety Committee called this meeting to provide <br />representatives from Memorial Hospital an opportunity to explain their St. Joe County Community <br />Health Needs Assessment. <br />Dr. Margo DeMont, the Executive Director of Memorial's Community Health Enhancement efforts, <br />began the presentation using both a handout and an overhead projection which covered the <br />background, purpose and intent of the program. She said effective health promotion requires the <br />engagement of the community. The rationale for community engaged health promotion, polity <br />development and research is rooted in the recognition that lifestyles, behaviors, and illnesses are rooted <br />in social and physical environments. To that end, Margo said Memorial was working with the St. Joseph <br />County Health Department to measure community health needs a telephone survey of 599 respondents <br />using questions developed by the Center for Disease Control was undertaken. Dr. DuMont said the <br />survey measured disparities among racial and ethnic groups focusing on measures of mental health, <br />violence safety, reproductive health, access to care, economic stability, aging population and early <br />childhood development. All of the resultant statistics from the survey are available online at <br />Qua lityofLife.org /chna. Dr. Felger head of the St. Joseph County Health Department added that these <br />measures can be invaluable in designing effective health improvement programs. <br />Patti Willard, who accompanied Dr. Willard, elaborated on the accessibility and the potential application <br />of the on -line data. She added that the refined data is particularly valuable as it is broken down by zip <br />code and is available nowhere else. <br />This initiative is of particular interest to Karen White and her committee in that it fits in with Karen's <br />long standing efforts to improve the quality of life in South Bend's neighborhoods. <br />After giving an opportunity for question and comment Karen adjourned the meeting at 4:56 p.m. <br />Respectfully Submitted, <br />Karen L. White, Chairperson <br />Health & Public Safety Committee <br />