Vision Statement
The Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) process will provide a perspective on quality of life, health outcomes, and resources of the community. This process will establish a strong foundation to foster and
promote optimal health and wellbeing for all individuals who live in Brunswick County.

Leadership
Local public health agencies in North Carolina (NC) are required to conduct a CHNA at least once every four years through the NC Local Health Department Accreditation Board (G.S. § 130A-34.1). Similarly, the US
Affordable Care Act of 2011 requires non-profit hospitals to conduct a CHNA at least every three years. Brunswick County Health Services, Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center, and Dosher Memorial Hospital,
partnered to complete one assessment meeting the requirements of NC DHHS, the local Health Department Accreditation Board, and federal Internal Revenue Service. The Brunswick County CHNA team was comprised of leaders from Brunswick County Health Services, Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center, and Dosher Memorial Hospital, various municipalities, civic/not-for-profit agencies, education, health providers, as well as community members, therefore representing the broad interests of the community.

Theoretical Framework/Model  

The Community Health Business Model (population health) was used to ensure that a collaboration of entities have a presence in the discussions and implementation plans to address the community needs identified in the assessment. Improved outcomes occur when a variety of organizations and services engage together to examine the needs and possible solutions.

Collaborative Process Summary

The eight-month process, started in May 2022. The steering committee met once per month, while the CHNA core team met biweekly. The materials for primary data research (CHOS survey instrument, key informant interviews, and focus group discussion guides) were developed in June 2022 which was followed by data collection from July-September 2022. In October 2022, secondary data research was reviewed followed by the presentation of primary research findings. The prioritization process took place in November 2022 and the final report CHNA report, infographics was prepared from December 2022-January 2023. The CHNA is an ongoing continuous improvement process that remains community centered and focused on improving the overall health and well-being of Brunswick County Health Services.

Key Findings

Once the primary and secondary data was collected and analyzed, the next step was to solicit input from the steering committee on which of the priority topic areas can and should be addressed in the coming three years. Community engagement is essential to the success of the health improvement process in public health, so gathering community support and resources is an essential part of the priority-setting process. The Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) Core Group used themes that emerged from both the primary and secondary data, including comparisons to state and national data sets, and Healthy North Carolina 2030 to develop a list of six priority topic areas from the health assessment process. These were: • Chronic Conditions (Heart Disease and Diabetes) • Substance Use • Mental Health • Access to Healthcare • Healthy Homes and Environment • Maternal and Child Health A summary of the findings from the CHNA was presented and discussed with the steering committee. Members were asked to vote on priorities using a virtual survey to rank the priorities from highest to lowest with these factors in mind, magnitude, seriousness, and feasibility. Once the priority ranking survey results were collected and analyzed the following priorities were approved by the Community Health Needs Assessment Core Group and the steering committee