Our Scorecard outlines the efforts being made in Franklin County to address three of the four health priorities identified in the CHA: 

• Exercise, Nutrition, and Weight 
• Heart Disease 
• Health Outcome Disparities in Communities of Color

We strive to keep our scorecard as up to date as possible. Click the document symbol beside each program to learn more about the programs and initiatives taking place to improve health outcomes in Franklin County. You can read the story about progress on each performance measure by opening the "plus" sign next to each performance measure.

COVID-19

In the year 2021, Franklin County experienced a total of 7,831 COVID-19 cases among residents. One year later, in 2022, the number of COVID-19 cases doubled to over 14,000 cases among residents, meaning that we saw a significant increase in morbidity from the COVID-19 virus. Looking at the graph below, we see that there was a significant spike in cases between January and February 2022.This increase could be referenced to the Omicron variant that was prevalent during this time period. However, there seemed to be no significant mortality changes from 2021 to 2022. 

Source: https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard/cases-and-deaths 

We did not identify any other major morbidity or mortality changes in the year of 2022 in Franklin County.

The Community Health Steering Committee met on February 16, 2023, to provide updates on our current CHIP and seek feedback regarding emerging issues that occurred during 2022 in Franklin County. The Steering Committee provides direction and leadership on community health initiatives across a variety of stakeholders and partner organizations. These organizations include:  

• Franklin County Health Department  

• Franklin County Emergency Management  

• Maria Parham Health 

• Safe Space, Inc.  

• Franklin County Schools  

• NC Cooperative Extension – Franklin County  

• Impact Healthcare  

Emerging Issues 

Sexual Assault 

One major emerging issue that was discussed was the increase in sexual assault cases in the county during 2022. Safe Space, Inc. is a non-profit organization that is committed to reducing relationship violence and sexual assault in Franklin County. Last fiscal year (July 2021 - June 2022), their organization had 16 documented cases of sexual assault between the ages of 16-25 years old. During this fiscal year (July 2022 - Present), so far they have documented 36 cases of sexual assault. The age breakdown of those cases is below: 

• 0-12 years old = 8 cases
• 13-17 years old = 6 cases
• 18-24 years old = 22 cases

Also, they emphasized that many sexual assault cases go unreported so this could a be larger issue in the community.  

Lack of Public Transportation

Another issue that was discussed was the lack of public transportation in the county. This is not a new issue, but it is something that is continuously impacting the Franklin County community. This issue was brought up by multiple stakeholders during the Community Health Steering Committe meeting. Also, the Franklin County Health Department has been surveying the community on what issues are impacting their health and transportation was mentioned multiple times in the responses. When asked "What is stopping you from getting the care you need?", a respondent wrote "not physically able to get there". Also, when asked "What other services do you wish the health department offered?", a respondent said having a "mobile health clinic that comes to various areas in the county for those with transportation issues". Currently, Franklin County has the Kerr Area Transportation Authority (KARTS) as the only source of public transportation in the county. KARTS is a public, rural transportation system that serves a 4-county region. However, there are limitations to this service since people must schedule/reserve rides and they only operate at certain times.   

Other issues that are impacting health in Franklin County that were discussed are: 

• Access to food – The extra benefits for COVID-19 (called “emergency allotments” or “maximum supplements”) in the Food and Nutrition Services program ends March 2023 and with the rising cost of food, our community is experiencing an increase in food insecurity.    

• Domestic Violence – There has been an increase in EMS reports involving domestic violence and substance abuse.  

• Increase in falls in the elderly population.  

• Mental health in youth – There is a lack of mental health services and programming to support youth in Franklin County.  

New Programs

Reducing Infant Mortality in Communities (RIMC) Program:

The RIMC program is an infant mortality program that awarded funds to the Franklin County Health Department to implement two evidence-based strategies (EBSs) that are proven to reduce infant mortality rates. The RIMC program focuses on addressing the disparity ratio between non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic African American births while addressing the overall infant mortality rate in Franklin County. The two EBSs that FCHD will implement are Breastfeeding Support Services and Infant Safe Sleep Services.

Under the Breastfeeding Support Services EBS, we will be offering Ready, Set, BABY classes to pregnant women in the community.  Ready, Set, BABY counsels' prenatal families about the benefits and management of breastfeeding. Participants will attend a group session to learn about the importance of breastfeeding. Once they complete the session, they will receive a breastfeeding bag with items that will help support them on their breastfeeding journey.

Under the Infant Safe Sleep Services EBS, we will be establishing an Infant Safe Sleep program which will provide safe sleep education classes to pregnant women and family members in Franklin County. Participants will attend a group session to learn the current guidelines on safe sleep for infants to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Once participants complete the session, they will receive a portable crib, so they have a safe sleep space for their baby.

We are currently in the planning process and hope to begin implementation of these two programs in June 2023.  

Discontinued Programs 

Transforming Prenatal Education to Reduce Health Disparities:

This was a pilot program to determine the effectiveness of using new prenatal patient education in our maternal health clinic. The program ran from June to October 2022. Program data is no longer being tracked so we will not have participant data going forward, which is why we are considering this a discontinued program. However, all FCHD’s maternal health clinic patients are still being offered the curriculum.