Vision Statement

Bladen County residents are empowered to lead healthy, active lifestyles with the support of healthcare organizations and community partners who provide access to comprehensive, quality healthcare and related resources.

Leadership

Cape Fear Valley Bladen County Hospital and Bladen County Health Department have developed a supportive and collaborative relationship. The Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) is one of the many projects and committees supported by this collaboration. Community partnerships are vital to the health of our County, and were instrumental in the development of the CHNA.

The Bladen County CHNA Steering Committee consists of the following:

Cape Fear Valley Health- Bladen- Susan Phelps

Bladen County Health Department-Teresa Duncan

Bladen County Commissioner-Charles Ray Peterson

Bladen County Manager-Greg Martin

Bladen Community College-Robert Villegas

Bladen County Department of Social Services- Jill Sampson

Bladen County Schools- Susan Lanier

Bladen County Library-Sheila Nance

Bladen County Health Department-Emily Barnes

Partnerships/Collaborations

Many different community organizations and individuals came together to contribute to the 2021-2022 Bladen County Community Health Needs Assessment. Essential partners within the community included the following:

Partner Organizations

• Bladen County Public Health Department

• Healthy Bladen Collaborative

• Health Eastern North Carolina (ENC) - ECU Brody School of Medicine

• Foundation for Health Leadership & Innovation

• The Duke Endowment

Hospitals and Health Systems

• Cape Fear Valley Health (Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, Hoke Hospital and Bladen County Hospital)

• Carteret Health Care

• Halifax Regional Medical Center

• Johnston Health

• UNC Lenoir Health Care

• Nash Health Care System

• Onslow Memorial Hospital

• The Outer Banks Hospital

• Pender Memorial Hospital

• Sampson Regional Medical Center

• Sentara Albemarle Medical Center

• Vidant Beaufort Hospital

• Vidant Bertie Hospital

• Vidant Chowan Hospital

• Vidant Duplin Hospital

• Vidant Edgecombe Hospital

• Vidant Medical Center

• Vidant Roanoke-Chowan Hospital

• Wayne UNC Health Care

• Wilson Medical Center

Health Departments and Health Districts

• Albemarle Regional Health Services

• Beaufort County Health Department

• Bladen County Health Department

• Carteret County Health Department

• Cumberland County Health Department

• Dare County Department of Health and Human Services

• Duplin County Health Department

• Edgecombe County Health Department

• Franklin County Health Department

• Greene County Department of Public Health

• Halifax County Public Health System

• Hoke County Health Department

• Hyde County Health Department

• Johnston County Public Health Department

• Lenoir County Health Department

• Martin-Tyrrell-Washington District Health Department

• Nash County Health Department

• Onslow County Health Department

• Pamlico County Health Department

• Pitt County Health Department

• Sampson County Health Department

• Wayne County Health Department

• Wilson County Health Department

Regional/Contracted Services

The 2021-2022 Bladen County Community Health Needs Assessment was supported by Health ENC, a collaborative initiative of health departments and hospitals in Eastern North Carolina that provides support for community health needs assessments statewide.

Theoretical Framework/Model

There was not a single theoretical framework or model used to conduct the 2021-2022 Bladen County Community Health Needs Assessment.

Collaborative Process Summary

The 2021-2022 Community Health Needs Assessment process was an iterative, year-long process involving several critical, strategic steps with many partners and stakeholders in the community. The Community Health Needs Assessment Process began in March 2021. The following steps were executed throughout 2021 and 2022.

 Key Findings

The CHNA findings were derived from an analysis of an extensive set of secondary data (more than 100 indicators from national and state data sources) and in-depth primary data from community leaders, health and non-health professionals who serve the community, vulnerable sub-populations, and segments of the community with un-met health needs. Through a synthesis of primary and secondary data, several significant health needs were identified through the Community Health Needs Assessment for Bladen County:

• Mental Health

• Substance Abuse

• Economy (affordable housing and low income)

• Diet, Exercise, and Nutrition

• Access to Health Services

• Maternal and Infant Health

• Diabetes

Health Priorities

Prioritization Process

To determine which health concerns are priorities, our partners reviewed outcomes and findings from the CHNA Surveys and utilized a results-based accountability approach to estimate which areas of need are of greatest concern.

Those factors and conditions included the following:

• Affordable Healthcare

• Safe Environment

• Access to available resources (and transportation)

• Sustainable wages or innovative job opportunities

• Family Supports

• Active Transportation

Healthy Bladen Collaborative participants were given a list of health concerns identified by the CHNA, and asked to rank them again as to what problem they wanted to see changed first, second, etc.

Results

At the conclusion of the prioritization process, the Healthy Bladen Collaborative identified five health needs as the key areas for action.

• Diet, Exercise, and Nutrition

• Substance Abuse

• Mental Health

• Diabetes

• Access to Health Services

Furthermore, to solidify the priority selection, a public survey was used to rank the significant health needs as identified by the CHNA. The top three priorities from the public input survey included (in order of priority):

1. Diet, Exercise, and Nutrition

2. Substance Abuse

3. Mental Health

In addition to working with the Healthy Bladen Collaborative to address the countywide priorities identified above, CFVHS has the greatest opportunity to impact mental health by addressing the availability and access to Mental Health Providers and facilities. Leveraging the analyses and findings from the community survey, the focus groups, the prioritization process, and the review of secondary data, Cape Fear Valley Bladen County Hospital have identified Other Unintentional Injuries (8th leading cause of death in Bladen County) for which it is in a position to address as it relates to mental health.

Cape Fear Valley Bladen County Hospital is also in a position to address Access to Health Services by addressing medical opportunities which impact access to care for specific diseases. These specific medical issues in Bladen County include:

• Heart Disease (1st leading cause of death)

• Cancer (2nd leading cause of death)

• Chronic Respiratory Disease (3rd leading cause of death)

• Diabetes (4th leading cause of death)

• Alzheimer’s Disease (5th leading cause of death)

• Cerebrovascular Disease (6th leading cause of death)

• Motor Vehicle Accidents (7th leading cause of death)

• Other Unintentional Injuries (8th leading cause of death)

• Nephritis Nephrotic Syndrome and Nephrosis (9th leading cause of death)

• Pneumonia and Influenza (10th leading cause of death)

• Obesity

• Fitness and Nutrition

• Substance Abuse

Of these, Cape Fear Valley Bladen County Hospital identified three of the top priorities and identified health issues as the key areas for action. These areas of concern impact utilization at Cape Fear Valley Bladen County Hospital and Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. Both hospitals will work collaboratively on these concerns. The CFVHS 2022-2025 Implementation Plan will identify specific areas within the identified priorities to target in the next three years, such as:

1. Mental Health

2. Substance Abuse/ Opioid Addiction

3. Access to Health Services

Next Steps

Because many health concerns involve many risk factors, or thing(s) that increases a person’s chance of developing a disease or contributing to health problems, it can be complex. Setting public health priorities and developing a Community Improvement Plan (CIP) to address health issues is critical to achieving wellness and requires collaboration among many partners and stakeholders. Identifying key community health issues and determining needs may differ by each community and available resources.

When setting our Community Improvement Plan, we considered the following:

• Focus on upstream measures, such as risk factors and behaviors, rather than disease outcomes

• Address high-priority public health issues that have a major impact on public health outcomes

• Are modifiable in the short term (through evidence-based interventions and strategies to motivate action)

• Address social determinants of health, health disparities, and health equity

The Community Health Needs Assessment utilized a comprehensive set of secondary data indicators measuring the health and quality of life needs of Bladen County. The assessment was further informed with input from Bladen County residents through a community survey and focus group discussions that included participants from broad interests of the community. The data synthesis process identified seven significant health needs: Mental Health, Substance Abuse, Economy (affordable housing and low income), Diet, Exercise, and Nutrition, Access to Health Services, Maternal and Infant Health, and Diabetes. The prioritization process identified five focus areas: (1) Diet, Exercise, and Nutrition, (2) Substance Abuse, (3) Mental Health, (4) Diabetes, and (5) Access to Health Services. Following this process, Bladen County will outline how it plans to address these health needs in its implementation plan.

Of these, Cape Fear Valley Bladen County Hospital will work with the Healthy Bladen Collaborative to address these priorities but can best impact the following.

1. Mental Health

2. Substance Abuse/Opioid Addiction

3. Access to Health Services

Following this process, Cape Fear Valley Health System in Bladen County will outline how it plans to address these health needs in its implementation plan.  We hope to incorporate any feedback on this report into the next CHNA process. Please send your feedback and comments to Bladen County Health Department at (910) 862-6900. 

• Diet, Nutrition, and Exercise
• Substance Abuse
• Mental Health