Top healthcare needs in a 17-county area of Northeast Georgia include access to healthcare services, mental and behavioral health, chronic disease prevention and management, and the need to address social influencers of health such as transportation and food access, according to an assessment conducted by St. Mary’s Health Care System.

St. Mary’s 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) identified needs in the primary and secondary counties served by St. Mary’s three hospitals – St. Mary’s Hospital in Athens, St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital in Lavonia, and St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital in Greensboro – as well as St. Mary’s Home Health Care/Hospice Services and St. Mary’s Medical Group.

The CHNA also highlighted the need to continue effectively responding and adapting to COVID-19 as the pandemic evolves and its impact on patients and communities changes.

Every three years, as required by law, St. Mary’s conducts a CHNA to better understand its communities’ current health needs and to identify local resources and assets. For the 2022 report, St. Mary’s Community Health and Well-being Department held community conversations and individual interviews with representatives from community-based health and public service organizations, medical professionals, and hospital staff from across the region.

These conversations provided critical and nuanced information on health data from the hospitals’ emergency departments as well as from external sources like the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Results from the 2022 CHNA will help inform St. Mary’s community outreach and health education programs through 2025. 

“Our CHNA provides much more than information about health gaps,” said St. Mary’s President and CEO Montez Carter. “The process behind it and the emerging strategies that we develop from it help us to leverage our resources to better serve our patients and to collaborate with local entities that empower people in our communities to lead healthier lives. We are committed to not only providing exceptional care within our own ministry, but to partnering with other community organizations that share our commitment to addressing the underlying causes of health inequities and disparities.” 

The complete 2022 CHNA reports for the three hospitals are now available for download at https://www.stmaryshealthcaresystem.org/about-us/community-benefit. This site also includes information about St. Mary’s community benefits program.