Our Mission Statement and Vision for the Future

We, here at the Pamlico County Health Department, strive to promote the optimal health of our community’s residents by providing high quality & professional services. Our aim is to foster public trust and to minimize identified public health risks so we can help to ensure the well-being of our community and the safety of its environment for future generations.

CHA Leadership & Partnerships/Collaborations

The 2021 Community Health Assessment for Pamlico County was able to be developed as a result of various partnerships between the Pamlico County Health Department and other organizations, community members, and stakeholders. The 2021 CHA Executive Committee was formed in the Spring of 2021. Its members consist of employees that hold key roles within the organizations from which they came. The organizations consisted of the three local health departments involved in the assessment and the hospital that serves our entire region. The Executive Committee also received insight and guidance from many community stakeholders. These stakeholders assisted the committee in analyzing the Primary and Secondary Data that was received. They also gave their interpretation regarding how this data was applicable to determining which key health priorities should be chosen for the upcoming cycle. The Executive Committee were fortunate in that these stakeholders represented a wide variety of agencies and organizations that held operations throughout Pamlico, Craven, and Jones Counties. The following types of agencies/groups were represented:

• County and city government

• Faith-based organizations, including refugee ministry

• Health care providers

• Public service providers

• Educational Institutions

• Substance use prevention

• Mental health

CHA Regional/Contracted Services

Currently, CHAs/CHNAs were required to be created at least once every three years (hospitals) or four years (health departments). The guidance given from the oversite authorities allowed for a wide variation in the construction of these reports. Hence, a CHA submitted in one county could have little resemblance to another offered in the next county over. To streamline the process, for the last two CHA Cycles the Pamlico County Health Department, and nearly all other eastern NC Counties, have partnered with Health ENC in the completion of their Community Health Assessment reports. The group “Health ENC” grew from the conversations that different health care leaders in eastern North Carolina had about improving the entire CHA/CHNA process. Partnerships were formed and we now have a standardized process for the health departments and hospitals in our region. This new process allows for vast improvements and assistance on gathering health data, and it gives new & innovative ways regarding how we can utilize it. The Health ENC organization assists in the collection of the data needed while, most importantly, still allowing the local health departments the freedom to select which priorities they find to be most important in their communities.

Theoretical Framework/Model

The state sets “Standards” for what each Community Health Assessment needs to include and how that should be accomplished. These standards are guided by the Consolidated Agreement that each Local Health Department has with the state and by using Essential Services & Benchmarks/Activities provided to them through their required Accreditation Process. The Standards are divided into 8 Phases.

1. Phase 1 – Establish the CHA Team a. February 2021

2. Phase 2 – Collect Primary Data a. March 2021-Partnered with Health ENC b. April-June 2021-Survey collection Period

3. Phase 3 – Collect Secondary Data a. July-September 2021-Collection of Secondary Data

4. Phase 4 – Analyze and Interpret County Health Data a. September-October 2021- Collection and Analyzation of Primary & Secondary Data

5. Phase 5 – Determine Health Priorities a. November 2021-Presentation Made for Stakeholders, Discussions Held, Priorities Identified

6. Phase 6 – Create CHA Document a. June 2022- CHA Document Completed, Submitted to State for Acceptance

7. Phase 7 – Disseminate CHA Document (August 2022)

8. Phase 8 – Develop Community Action Plan (August 2022)

Collaborative Process Summary

The information found in this Community Health Assessment (CHA) provides the foundation that is needed by multiple organizations to advise and guide them on improving the well-being of the residents in their community.

First, an Executive Committee was formed by combining employees found in key roles from each of the organizations found in our region. (These organizations consisted of: Pamlico County Health Department, Craven County Health Department, Jones County Health Department, and CarolinaEast Health System.) Each organization had already individually established a partnership with the Health ENC group and were preparing for the collection of Primary Data. “Primary Data” is information that is gathered from a 1st party source. In this case, the information is given to us directly from members of the community, in the form of surveys. Meetings were held by the Executive Committee to establish a plan and to make decisions on how to distribute the survey so that the primary data could be gathered and analyzed.

The Health ENC Group had previously been hard at work generating the survey that would be used. When creating the survey, they were sure to choose questions that addressed relevant and important items regarding the health of the community. It was developed in a way that would give insight into each respondent’s perception on the topics that were discussed and could give clarity to the organizations that utilized it. (See pg. 14 for details on this process.) The data received would act as a starting point for establishing the Health Priorities based on the information given. Decisions were made on how the survey would be distributed to the community, and discussions were held on how the information would be organized and submitted to each organization.

The focus then shifted to Secondary Data collection. “Secondary Data” is information that is gathered from an alternate source. This data is typically research that has been previously gathered and can be accessed and used by a 3rd party. While collecting secondary data, only reputable sources of information were utilized. The sources used for this CHA included mostly online governmental agencies such as: countyhealthrankings.org, datausa.io, censusreporter.org, data.census.gov, N.C. Injury & Violence Prevention Branch, and the NC State Center for Health Statistics. This data is used to lend an unbiased opinion on the state of the community’s health and give evidence on various topics. When analyzed, this data -combined with the primary data provided via survey by residents- assisted in determining what priorities should be set to promote the health and well-being of the community of Pamlico County.

The CHA Executive Committee used all of the data gathered and used it to guide discussions that were then held with Community Members and Stakeholders. The guidance from those discussions, the culmination of the primary and secondary data that was gathered were all combined to form Pamlico County’s 2021 Community Health Assessment.

Key Findings

After combing through the data collected for purposes of creating this assessment, we learned most residents feel that Pamlico County is a good place to grow old in. They also feel that there are good parks and recreational facilities here. Even though statistics prove that our county is sorely lacking in the amount of healthcare providers (per capita) the majority of the respondents feel that the ones that we do have here, are good healthcare facilities. We have a High School Graduation rate that is higher than our counterparts, and a dropout rate that is lower. Our county’s unemployment rate has been falling since 2011, but began to rise again in 2020, likely due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. About half of those surveyed feel that Pamlico County is a good place to raise children and that it is easy to find and purchase healthy foods. But many agree that there is a lack of economic opportunity and wish there were more affordable housing. When asked to select the “Top Three Issues” that they believe affect Quality of Life in Pamlico County, participants identified these 5 the most: Low Income/Poverty (24.43%), Drugs/Alcohol (i.e.: Substance Misuse) (19.76%), Lack of Affordable Housing (12.82%), Transportation (12.07%), and Lack of Community Resources (8.75%). Pamlico County Health Department will create Community Health Improvement Plans (CHIPs) that will address the issues named above. Work will be done to develop strategies and goals of partnering with community organizations in efforts of alleviating these issues.

Health Priorities

Using the data available to complete this assessment, several issues were determined to be priorities to the community of Pamlico County -as well as to the Pamlico/Craven/Jones County Region as a whole. The priorities set in this Community Health Assessment are as follows:

• Behavioral Health

• Community Wellness

• Workforce Development

Next Steps

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services require all local health departments to conduct a Community Health Assessment (CHA) every three-or-four years. These assessments are required to provide the foundation for improving the health of county residents and are paramount to identifying the health priorities that most need attention in the community. That document will then be used, by the local health department, to create Community Health Improvement Plans (CHIPs) that will aid in achieving a desirable outcome for the population towards the priorities that were set in the CHA. Community Health Improvement Plans (CHIPs) are the documents that are created as a roadmap of how to work towards achieving successful outcomes in the priority areas. They usually include the involvement of and collaboration with many of the health departments community partnerships and work with community stakeholders. A State-of-the-County’s Health (SOTCH) Report is required to be completed by local health departments during each of the interim years that a CHA is not required. SOTCH Reports give us the ability to relay updates to leaders, partners, and community members on the progresses that have been made on each of the Community Health Improvement Plans. It also allows health departments to disseminate the status of the objectives that were set and/or achieved regarding the priorities identified in the previous CHA. Ultimately, all work done is done with one goal in mind, improving the health of our community. This document will be shared with community members, leaders, and stakeholders by various methods. Presentations will be made to the Board of Health/Board of County Commissioners and to the Pamlico County Community Collaborative. (Please see Page 2 Distribution information)

• Behavioral Health
• Community Wellness
• Workforce Development