Invitation to identify priority health needs

Date: 08/05/2021

Brewer, Maine (August 2, 2021) - Community members from across Maine are invited to participate in regional community health forums to help build a brighter future for Maine. These forums are part of the Maine Shared Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), a statewide public-private partnership that occurs every three years and includes Northern Light Health, Central Maine Healthcare, MaineGeneral Health, MaineHealth, and Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The public forums will occur between September – November 2021.

The forums bring together many community stakeholders to identify priority needs, local resources and opportunities for partnership and collective action. Local hospitals, community-based organizations and public health entities use the data gathered at these forums to inform local and regional health improvement plans for Maine people. Northern Light Health member organizations will develop and publish health improvement plans for its health service areas in the spring of 2022.

Doug Michael, associate vice president of Community Health and Grants, Northern Light Health, shares, “We believe Maine can become the healthiest state in the nation. Accomplishing such a goal requires robust community involvement, a shared vision for action and partners committed to addressing priority needs. We look forward to learning from our neighbors about the issues they find most important. The Maine Shared CHNA guides us forward, it is our road map to a healthier Maine.”

Local Maine Shared CHNA planning committees will host forums and conduct community outreach to ensure feedback from those who represent the broad interests of the community, including but not limited to the medically underserved, low-income, those who may experience health disparities.

All forums will be held virtually through video conference software. Anyone from the public is welcome to attend but must register. For additional information, specific forum dates, and to register, go to northernlighthealth.org/Community-Health-Needs-Assessment/Community-Engagement.