For Immediate Release

Contact:

Laura Blodgett

734-712-4536

Laura.Blodgett@stjoeshealth.org

October 29, 2018

Community health needs assessment identifies priority health needs

LIVONIA, Mich. (Oct. 29, 2018) – Through a year-long health needs assessment at three of its five ministries, Saint Joseph Mercy Health System (SJMHS) has determined the greatest health needs of the communities its hospitals serve.

The Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) is a requirement of all tax-exempt hospitals established as part of the Affordable Care Act and overseen by the Internal Revenue Service that must be conducted every three years by non-profit hospitals.

"As a hospital, we took this opportunity to develop a comprehensive approach to truly understand the health needs of our community," said Dave Spivey, president and CEO, St. Mary Mercy Livonia and vice president, Community Health & Well-being, Michigan. "Not only does this requirement demonstrate our core values but it helps us live out our mission to be a compassionate, transforming, healing presence in our community."

Covering Livingston, Oakland, Washtenaw, and western Wayne counties, the assessment included an in-depth review of national, state and local data; key stakeholder interviews and community agency input.

For St. Mary Mercy Livonia (SMML), residents in Canton, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Livonia, Northville City, Northville Township, Plymouth City, Plymouth Township, Redford and Westland participated in an extensive health needs survey in September 2017 led by a 25-member CHNA Steering Committee.

With input from community members, leaders and organizations, the CHNA Steering Committee identified and established objectives for the following health needs:

• Nutrition and healthy eating – Increase knowledge about healthy eating, increase access to affordable fruits and vegetables; provide adult services and resources to achieve a healthy weight.
• Substance Use Disorder – Increase the number of people seeking treatment and decrease deaths from opioids.
• Mental Health – Increase the number of people seeking treatment and increase knowledge about mental health/depression to reduce the stigma.
• Access to Care – Improve access to primary care providers, improve navigation and provide health care resources.
• Physical Activity – Increase access and use of physical activity opportunities.

As a regional system across metro Detroit that is part of Trinity Health, one of the leading national Catholic health systems, SJMHS has a tremendous opportunity to address identified needs that impact health outcomes. SJMHS has developed an implementation plan to address these health issues, working closely with community partners to improve the coordination and support for existing community resources that address these needs.

In 2015, SMML identified three health needs during this process, including obesity, behavioral health, and access to care. The hospital is pleased to report that it has made an impact in all three areas, especially related to behavioral health services and the opioid crisis in our communities.

Since 2015, SMML implemented several programs to address the local health needs including:

• Partnering with South Redford Schools and Meijer, Inc. to provide 13 "All School Tasting Days," school health assemblies, and family grocery store tours targeted at increasing the number of children who increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables over the last three years with almost 4,000 students reached.
• In collaboration with Growth Works, Inc. and Livonia Save Our Youth (LSOY) an Addiction Forum was implemented in 2015 to increase the dialogue around substance abuse, reduce the stigma, and encourage treatment. During the first two years of the program, there were 487 attendees and 25 referrals for treatment made.
• In collaboration with Covenant Community Care, SMML invested financially and in-kind in the development of a Federally Qualified Health Clinic in Westland. There are plans to open the clinic in the near future.

“It is our mission to improve the health of our communities,” said Michaeline Raczka, RD, director of Community Health at St. Mary Mercy. “We have a long history of leading community-based health promotion and disease prevention initiatives in our service area.”

Last year, Trinity's Health's Michigan-based health system, which includes Saint Joseph Mercy Health System and Mercy Health, returned $193 million to the community through community benefit programs and charity care.

To learn more, the most recent Community Health Needs Assessment Reports from all five SJMHS hospitals can be downloaded at www.stjoeshealth.org/cbm.

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About St. Mary Mercy Livonia

St. Mary Mercy Livonia is a 304-bed hospital providing acute-care medical and health services to our community by board-certified doctors and registered nurses. We provide the highest quality services with leading-edge technology in our 24-hour Emergency Center, Senior ER, Heart & Vascular Center, Cancer Center, Birthing Center, Women’s Center, Center for Joint Replacement, Inpatient and Outpatient Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Units, Sleep Center, Wound Care Center, and Michigan Bariatric Institute. We also offer same-day diagnostic testing and a variety of community health education services.

About Saint Joseph Mercy Health System

Saint Joseph Mercy Health System (SJMHS) is a health care organization serving seven counties in southeast Michigan including Livingston, Washtenaw, Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Jackson, and Lenawee. It includes 537-bed St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor, 443bed St. Joseph Mercy Oakland in Pontiac, 304-bed St. Mary Mercy Livonia, 136-bed St. Joseph Mercy Livingston in Howell, and 133-bed St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea. Combined, the five hospitals are licensed for 1,553 beds, have five outpatient health centers, six urgent care facilities, more than 25 specialty centers; employ more than 13,400 individuals and have a medical staff of nearly 2,700 physicians. SJMHS has annual operating revenues of about $1.9 billion and returns about $120 million to its communities annually through charity care and community benefit programs.