Partner Spotlight: Griffin Hospital

Griffin Hospital uses 2016 Valley Community Index as the launchpad for the next Naugatuck Valley Community Health Improvement Plan.

As the hub of the Valley's healthcare system, Griffin Hospital's leadership realized long ago that there are many spokes that reach out to where, from a population health and wellness standpoint, the rubber meets the road.

The hospital has a long and proud history of helping organize and coordinate community health needs, and providing support for the Valley's most vulnerable residents.

Supporting the 2016 Valley Community Index as the lead sponsor, Griffin Hospital played a major part in bringing this report to life and will use it as a tool to improve the health of the Valley moving forward.

"Having a consistent source of local data across the various categories featured in the report (Education, Health, Economics, Early Childhood, etc.) is invaluable," says Patrick Charmel, Griffin Hospital President & CEO. "When combined with demographic trends, this means we can plan, as a community, to meet current and future needs of the Valley. This common ground will eliminate the need to debate the merits of varying data sources before moving forward with actionable items."

In addition, Griffin Hospital's staff also participated in the planning stages, providing input into data collection and overall structure of the index, as well as leadership in the development of the Community Health in the Valley section. This section details Valley residents' causes of death, chronic diseases, mental health, and access to care. It is believed that many of these statistics will improve with a continued approach to prevention and wellness initiatives, something Griffin Hospital has been addressing for some time.

The Affordable Care Act requires nonprofits hospitals, like Griffin, to perform a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) and to adopt a Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP), which is an implementation strategy designed to meet the health needs of the community. The most recent Naugatuck Valley CHIP, shared by the Naugatuck Valley Health District and Griffin Hospital, was developed out of the Community Health in the Valley section in the 2016 Valley Community Index, which served as the organizations' 2016-2018 CHNA.

The CHNA, in turn, served as the launch pad for the next CHIP, which lays out a strategy to categorically address the six focus areas, and includes an overview of the baseline data, short- and long-term indicators, objectives, and strategies to address community needs.

"Griffin is at the forefront of population health management among hospitals, so we have been an early adopter of efforts to effect change in social determinants of health to improve overall health outcomes," Charmel says. "In addition to providing specific insights into many areas traditionally associated with social determinants of health, such as housing, education, and other socio-economic factors, the Index synthesizes this information across a broad spectrum of factors affecting well-being. The result is a very compelling picture of just how interdependent we all are, as individuals, municipalities, and organizations in the Valley. Only by working together can we maximize positive impact to change our community for the better in the years to come."