What is a community health needs assessment?

A Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) is a process involving the community to identify and analyze community health needs. This provides a way for communities to prioritize health needs, and to plan and act upon unmet community health needs.

In 2018, Centra aligned the Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNA) for all of its hospital systems so that moving forward they all follow the same three-year timeline. In addition, Centra committed to “raising the voice of the community” by creating a CHNA process that was driven by the community through collaboration with key leaders and stakeholders in the service area to ensure rigorous data collection and the development of an Implementation Plan that contributes to long-lasting social changes and positive health outcomes.

As a result, the Partnership for Healthy Communities (PHC) was formed. PHC is a regional planning initiative led by Centra, Centra Foundation, the Community Access Network, the Central Virginia, Piedmont, and Pittsylvania/Danville Health Districts in collaboration with the Bedford Community Health Foundation, Greater Lynchburg Community Foundation, Johnson Health Center, and United Way of Central Virginia.