By Charles Romans
Carter County Times
King’s Daughter’s Medical Center and the Carter County Health Department hosted an event last Wednesday to determine what the community’s health needs are, and how they can best meet them. The event was geared toward gathering everyone interested in the health of Carter County residents, and discussing what needed to be addressed and improved in health care. Scott Hill and Diva Justice from KDMC, and the Carter County Health Department gathered input on the top health care needs for their Community Health Needs Assessment.
Hill said the event had already been conducted in Boyd and Greenup Counties, and with the information from Carter County KDMC would be able to get a clearer picture of what was needed in regional health care.
“I think the biggest thing is collaboration,” Hill said. “We get this many people together in a room like this, it’s just powerful. It just seems like you can solve so many problems when you work together.”
Collaboration, such as the open forum discussion at the event, provide a lot of ‘a ha,’ moments, Hill said. One of those he pointed out was that a lot of people who need the health services that are already in place aren’t even aware that those services exist.
During the open forum style meeting, Hill and Justice broke down and recorded concerns on white boards. Then at the end of the meeting each person in attendance was given three votes per category and was encouraged to cast their votes on what they felt was the area that most needed addressing.
Under the category of ‘what does healthy look like,’ some of the things listed were YMCA, food access, safe and affordable housing, resources for autistic individuals, therapy for children, shelter for the homeless, an ER or hospital in Carter and Elliot Counties, better knowledge of resources, and adult daycare. On that extensive list generated through collaboration at the event, there were a few obvious ‘winners.” Highest on the list with 18 votes was a YMCA; but coming in at a close second was 15 votes for an ER or hospital, and 11 votes for a better knowledge base for resources in the community.
Another category addressed was ‘biggest health needs,’ a list compiled by everyone present voicing their concerns based upon their experiences providing healthcare to local residents. Listed in that category were concerns such as dental care, again the need for an ER in Carter County, access to therapy, YMCA was listed again, inmate resources in the local jail, and a need for resource awareness, among many others. Topping that list was an ER in Carter County with 19 votes, followed by YMCA with 13 votes, and the need for a resource awareness list at 8 votes. Both senior services and inmate resources gathered 7 votes each.
The last category discussed was what was needed to be healthy, or what it would take to improve the health of county residents. The top of this list, with a tie of 16 votes, was collaboration with the community and education on better use of services provided. This tie was followed by a better infrastructure (including internet, technology, etc.) with 9 votes, and economic and budget dollars.
These ‘votes’ represent what healthcare providers in our region see as what is most needed for the continued and improved health of Carter County. They indicate that some services such as an ER or hospital that aren’t currently available are needed, but much of what was discussed was how to improve the healthcare services currently available and raise public awareness of what services are available to the ones who need them.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
