Create Thriving Communities

Health is determined by more than our choices and access to care. In fact, 80% of what makes people healthy occurs outside of a doctor visit. There are institutional and social inequities that systemically affect the health of our communities, and simply promoting healthy choices won’t eliminate these inequities. The existence of safe housing, public transportation, education, good jobs with fair pay, access to healthy and affordable foods, and opportunities to be physically active significantly impact our health. Our work is designed to improve these social, economic, and environmental conditions that impact health using a health equity approach. Due to the nature of this work, changes in health outcomes aren’t something that can be achieved quickly. It takes time to see the impacts of our work.

The ultimate goal of our work is to create thriving communities where all people in Wood County have a fair opportunity to be as healthy as possible regardless of income, age, location, race, ethnicity, gender, or any other factor.

Local Health Department Requirements

Since 1993, Wisconsin State Statutes have required local health departments throughout Wisconsin, including Wood County, to develop and implement local health plans to address health conditions impacting their residents. These local health plans are referred to as the Community Health Assessment (CHA) and Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP), named in part, due to the resulting health status changes in a community and the people that live there. Wisconsin Statute Chapter 251, Section 05 details the requirement that all local health departments must complete the CHA and CHIP every five years.

Click here to read more about local health department requirements and processes.

Health System Requirements

On March 23, 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law with an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requirement that all non-profit healthcare systems collaborate with their local health department to complete a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) and Implementation Strategy (IS) every three years. This overarching community health plan is a joint effort between the health department and health systems with some unique strategies for each agency’s implementation plan.

Click here to read more about health system requirements and processes.

Wood County’s Process

In Wood County, the CHA and CHIP are collaborative efforts between Wood County Health Department, Marshfield Clinic Health System, and Aspirus Riverview Hospital and Clinics. We follow the three-year requirement to ensure all entities have aligned health priorities and strategies, reduce duplication, and better utilize resources. The CHIP in Wood County is known as Healthy People Wood County (HPWC).

The process includes two major parts.

1. Community Health Assessment (CHA)

HPWC Leadership Team conducts large online and paper surveys, focus groups, and key stakeholder interviews. We use this important qualitative data and pair it with local, county, and state level data to identify the greatest health needs and assets and prioritize health issues to address in Wood County.

Click here for the 2020 CHA.

2. Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP)

The HPWC Leadership Team creates action plans with goals and objectives around the top health priorities identified through the CHA. These action plans help partners see where they could best use their resources to accomplish the work.

Click here to read the 2020-2024 CHIP.

Funding & Leadership

This project is funded by the Wood County Health Department, Aspirus Riverview Hospital & Clinics, and Marshfield Clinic Health System. The Healthy People Wood County (HPWC) Leadership Team guides the work of the health priorities identified in the Wood County CHIP. Using the guiding principles of policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) change, health equity, community engagement, and sustainability, the HPWC Leadership Team convenes community organizations and creates partnerships to make positive, lasting change in Wood County. We invite you to join our efforts to improve the identified health priorities. Together we can make a difference!