Community Health Needs Assessment

As a part of providing Community Benefit to enhance the health and well-being of the residents of the Greater Houston area, Memorial Hermann Surgical Hospital First Colony is required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to identify the community’s health needs and strengths by conducting a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) to prioritize health issues, to provide a foundation for the development of a community health improvement plan and to assist community organizations in their program planning.

The most recent CHNA was conducted between August 2021 to May 2022 with the overall goal of identifying the major health care issues, barriers to access, and health priorities for those living in the Houston community. The CHNA findings in this report are drawn from the analysis of an extensive set of secondary data (over 200 indicators from national and state data sources) and in-depth primary data from community leaders, non-health professionals, and organizations serving the community at large, community-specific populations, and/or populations with unmet health needs.

In March 2022, stakeholders within the Memorial Hermann Health System completed a survey to prioritize the significant health issues, based on the criteria of ability to impact, scope and severity, and consideration within Memorial Hermann’s strategic focus. The following four Health Priorities have been identified for the Houston community:

• Access to Healthcare: Implementing initiatives that increase patients’ access to care to ensure they receive care at the right location, at the right cost, at the right time.
• Emotional Well-Being: Implementing initiatives that connect and care for community members who are experiencing a mental health crisis with: access to appropriate psychiatric specialists at the time of their crisis; redirection away from the ER; linkage to a permanent, community based mental health provider; and knowledge to navigate the system, regardless of their ability to pay.
• Food as Health: Implementing initiatives that increase awareness of food insecurity, provision of food programs, and education that promotes the reduction/postponement of chronic disease.
• Exercise as Medicine: Implementing initiatives that promote physical activities that promote social cohesion, emotional well-being, and the reduction/postponement of chronic disease.

The CHNA process culminates in the development of a Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) for each hospital to address the community’s significant needs identified through the CHNA and to align with a core set of Memorial Hermann Health System priorities. Memorial Hermann Surgical Hospital First Colony utilizes the plan as a guide over the next three years to support the health of their community and advance the mission of the organization.

We Welcome Your Feedback

If you have any feedback on the Community Health Needs Assessment and/or Implementation Plan, please send your comments to [email protected].

Paper copies are available without charge.

To find out more, please call us at (281) 243‑1000.