Are the health and medical needs of our community being met? Bon Secours invites you to take part in their 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment, which can be answered online, in English or Spanish, in just six or seven minutes.
“The assessment is a boots-on-the-ground effort to improve health issues for people in the areas surrounding our seven hospitals,” said Paula Young, M.D., chief medical officer, community health and vice president medical affairs, Richmond Community Hospital. “It’s our way to hear from the community about their health needs. It’s our way of providing services, and our way to give back.”
The anonymous survey, conducted every three years, not only covers physical and mental health, but also addresses the disparities in housing, food, employment and environmental issues and how they may limit healthcare access and drive healthcare inequities.
Once the top health needs are identified via a survey and other community engagement initiatives, Bon Secours creates a Community Health Improvement Plan that swings into action the next year, creating solutions that have brought real improvements to Richmond communities.
Here are just a few of the changes made after the 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment identified five major areas of need.
Chronic disease and prevention
One major gap revealed by the Community Health Needs Assessment was in hypertension management. In response, Bon Secours launched a pilot project that teaches patients about medication management, what foods to eat and the importance of exercise to manage blood pressure.
Participants saw a significant reduction in blood pressure, as well as weight loss. The program was so successful it will now expand to additional cohorts.
Mental health
Mental health issues have increased for all ages, partly brought on by the social isolation associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, Bon Secours started two Partial Hospitalization Programs (one at Richmond Community Hospital and one at Southside Medical Center) to treat a range of issues from anxiety and depression to PTSD and addiction.
People can check in during the day to receive treatment, then go home at night. Additionally, an adolescent Partial Hospitalization Program launched last year at St. Mary’s Hospital.
Violence and trauma
Violence — whether on an interpersonal or community level — also emerged as a significant concern. To expand healthcare access further south, Bon Secours recently opened a Violence Response Team suite at their Southside Medical Center in Petersburg, and it’s fully staffed 24/7.
Two healthcare liaisons were hired to work within the communities to build trust. They also meet directly with hospital patients recovering from violent incidents and help connect them to community resources for safe housing, counseling and other services to create a more secure future.
Social and economic disparities
It’s hard to maintain health when you can’t afford nutritious food, don’t have stable housing or are uninsured. Bon Secours took action on all these fronts.
They now use UniteUs, an innovative e-referral tool that allows organizations providing food, education, case management or other community based supports to connect directly with patients before they even leave the hospital.
Additionally, caring for the uninsured is a growing community need — and to support the work of the popular mobile Care-A-Van — Bon Secours opened a fixed site 8,000-square-foot Community Health Care Clinic in Manchester and an outpatient clinic in the East End Medical Office Building across from Richmond Community Hospital.
Engagement and inclusion
For a deeper dive into the needs revealed in the Community Health Needs Assessment, Bon Secours goes directly into communities, visiting gathering places like churches, holding focus groups and talking to a wide range of people.
“We make it a point to sit down with various community leaders and representatives as part of our Community Health Needs Assessment process so that they can help us add nuance and depth to what we’re hearing from the community via the survey,” said Kerrissa MacPherson, program manager of community health at Bon Secours.
Bon Secours also makes substantial community benefit investment contributions — more than $3.5 million in 2024 alone — to Virginia nonprofits that help address these health issues.
Make your voice heard
To participate in the 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment and to help Bon Secours make a difference in the community for the next three years, click here. The survey can be completed in English or Spanish.
“Our goal is to reach out to the community through this health needs assessment so that we can hear, we can learn, and we can provide what’s needed for your health and wellness,” said Young.
For more information about Bon Secours and its services, visit bonsecours.com.
