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As its Community Health Needs Assessment Survey response period comes to a close, Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital officials will host two public listening sessions this week to allow local residents to express themselves regarding what additional hospital services and improvements they would like to see.
Set for Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. and Feb. 11 at 3:30 p.m., the listening sessions will be held in the Hazel Hawkins Support Services Building’s Great Room on the second floor.
Director Of Marketing And Community Relations Frankie Gallagher said the sessions were scheduled to allow as many an opportunity to participate in the community needs assessment process as possible.
So far, Gallagher said, thew hospital has received a total of 116 responses to the survey.
Gallagher will lead the sessions but said the hospital’s leadership team will not attend, in order to allow attendees to speak more candidly.
“We felt people would be more willing to talk,” she said.
A notice about the listening sessions said “all community members are welcome,” and described them as an “opportunity to share your thoughts, concerns and ideas about health care needs in our community,” adding that the input received would “help guide future health programs and services.”
Hospital officials are also urging the community to fill out the Community Health Needs Assessment survey online at https://forms.office.com/r/eNmBAsHG2D
Released on Jan. 20, the survey will be available online until Feb. 13.
It’s intended to “better understand the health priorities, challenges and resources” in the community” and touted by the hospital as part of a “comprehensive process” to identify the most pressing health needs and guide the hospital’s “planning for programs, services and partnerships that improve community well-being.”
According to the survey, community member feedback “is essential because it ensures that the decisions (hospital officials) make reflect real experiences and concerns of the people we serve,” and helps hospital officials “focus on what matters most and create strategies that truly benefit” the community.”
The survey, which is the first of its kind since CEO Mary Casillas took the helm, is a follow-up to the hospital’s Provider Needs Assessment conducted in 2021.
The survey is confidential and does not request names or other identifying information, and should take no more than 10 minutes to complete, according to the survey.
It does ask for personal information including age, primary zip code, racial/ethnic background, education level, annual income, and primary source of health insurance, as well as a series of questions about health care accessibility such as where respondents go most often for their primary health care needs. It also asks respondents about their Hazel Hawkins patient experience, including services offered, and seeks suggestions for improvements and additions. It also has questions on community health topics including health and wellness classes, top health-related needs, and how living in San Benito County contributes negatively to people’s health and well-being.
Both surveys are being conducted by the hospital and consultant Wipfli LLP at a cost of about $75,000.
The survey is being conducted nearly six months after Michigan-based Insight Health withdrew from a years-long effort to enter a lease-to-purchase agreement for the hospital, which had struggled financially for years before beginning to right itself last year.
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