Health Needs Assessment

community health

Dear Community Member

The creation of the Community Health Assessment (CHA) and Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) was a collaborative community-wide effort between Knox Community Hospital, Knox Public Health, and the Knox Health Planning Partnership. These documents identify local health and medical needs and provide a plan showing how working together, our community will respond to such needs. A wide variety of community members were actively engaged in the planning process and helped define the content, scope, and sequence of the project. Active engagement of community members throughout the planning process is regarded as an important step in completing a valid needs assessment.

The Knox County CHA fulfills the nationally mandated requirements for Knox Community Hospital, while also providing the entire community with a much more collaborative and coordinated approach to our most pressing health and medical needs. Prior KCH Community Health Needs Assessment are also available for your review and comment. 

The Knox County CHA is utilized as vital input for creating the Knox County Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) defines a CHIP as a long-term, systematic effort to address health problems based on the results of assessment activities and the community health improvement process. This plan is used by healthcare organizations and other governmental, education, and human service agencies, in collaboration with community partners, to set priorities and coordinate and target resources. A CHIP is critical for developing policies and defining actions to target efforts that promote health. It should define the vision for the health of the community inclusively and should be done in a timely way.

I invite your response to this report. As you read, please think about how to help us improve health and medical services in our area. We all live in, work in, and enjoy this wonderful community together. Together, we can make our community healthier for every one of us.

Thank You,

Bruce D. White CEO

Bruce D. White
Chief Executive Officer

Community Health Assessment
Community Health Improvement Plan