Rio Grande Hospital’s Community Health Needs Assessment begins

Photo courtesy of RGH Rio Grande Hospital CEO Arlene Harms speaks on Oct. 28 during the hospital's first Community Needs Assessment meeting of 2021.

RIO GRANDE COUNTY — Rio Grande Hospital (RGH) had a successful kick-off of its Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) at the Knights of Columbus in Del Norte on Thursday, Oct. 28. 

The CHNA is required of tax-exempt hospitals as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It is an ongoing process for the hospital to evaluate the health needs of the communities they serve. This allows them to facilitate the priority of needs then and strategize to address them. 

Local partners, stakeholders, and community members joined together for the first of three CHNAs meetings.  

Emily Brown, RGH Board member, welcomed the group and explained the process. The first meeting focused on last year’s CHNA outcomes. 

RGH CEO Arlene Harms shared with the group how much they have grown, and a lot of it is thanks to the outcome from the last CHNA in 2018, including the many partnerships that have evolved from the 2018 meeting. 

CFO Greg Porter reviewed financial information. Then Emily Brown distributed and explained the health data for Rio Grande County and the San Luis Valley. 

RGH wants to hear from the community through its survey. This process allows RGH to hear the needs of the community. The survey can be found at riograndehospital/chna. There people can also find more information about the next two meetings on Nov. 11 and Nov. 30.