HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-20-13 Health & Public SafetyHealth & Public Safety
4.00 p.m.
May 20, 2013
Committee Members Present: Karen White, Tim Scott, Dr. Varner (4:30 p.m.)
Other Council Present: Gavin Ferlic
Others Present: Dr. Felger, St. Joseph County Health Department, Jack Smith, Patti Willard
Agenda: Community Needs Assessment — Dr. Margo DeMont, Executive Director Memorial
Hospital /Beacon Health System
Karen White, Chairperson of the Health and Public Safety Committee called this meeting to provide
representatives from Memorial Hospital an opportunity to explain their St. Joe County Community
Health Needs Assessment.
Dr. Margo DeMont, the Executive Director of Memorial's Community Health Enhancement efforts,
began the presentation using both a handout and an overhead projection which covered the
background, purpose and intent of the program. She said effective health promotion requires the
engagement of the community. The rationale for community engaged health promotion, polity
development and research is rooted in the recognition that lifestyles, behaviors, and illnesses are rooted
in social and physical environments. To that end, Margo said Memorial was working with the St. Joseph
County Health Department to measure community health needs a telephone survey of 599 respondents
using questions developed by the Center for Disease Control was undertaken. Dr. DuMont said the
survey measured disparities among racial and ethnic groups focusing on measures of mental health,
violence safety, reproductive health, access to care, economic stability, aging population and early
childhood development. All of the resultant statistics from the survey are available online at
Qua lityofLife.org /chna. Dr. Felger head of the St. Joseph County Health Department added that these
measures can be invaluable in designing effective health improvement programs.
Patti Willard, who accompanied Dr. Willard, elaborated on the accessibility and the potential application
of the on -line data. She added that the refined data is particularly valuable as it is broken down by zip
code and is available nowhere else.
This initiative is of particular interest to Karen White and her committee in that it fits in with Karen's
long standing efforts to improve the quality of life in South Bend's neighborhoods.
After giving an opportunity for question and comment Karen adjourned the meeting at 4:56 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Karen L. White, Chairperson
Health & Public Safety Committee