2023 – 2026 Marion County Community Health Improvement Plan
About
A community health improvement plan (CHIP) is a community-driven, long-term, systematic plan to address issues identified in a community health assessment (CHA). Marion Public Health has been conducting CHAs since 2010 to measure community health status. The most recent Marion County CHA was cross-sectional in nature and included a written survey of adults within Marion County. Community stakeholders were actively engaged in the early phases of CHA planning and helped define the content, scope, and sequence of the project.
Purpose
To describe how hospitals, health departments, and other community stakeholders will work to improve the health of the county. A CHIP is designed to set priorities, direct the use of resources, and develop and implement projects, programs, and policies. The CHIP is more comprehensive than the roles and responsibilities of health organizations alone, and the plan’s development must include participation of a broad set of community stakeholders and partners. This CHIP reflects the results of a collaborative planning process that includes significant involvement by a variety of community sectors.
Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) Requirements
National Public Health Accreditation status through the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) is the measurement of health department performance against a set of nationally recognized, practice-focused and evidenced-based standards. The goal of the national accreditation program is to improve and protect the health of the public by advancing the quality and performance of Tribal, state, local, and territorial public health departments. PHAB requires that CHIPs be completed at least every five years, however, Ohio state law (ORC 3701.981) requires that health departments and hospitals collaborate to create a CHIP every three years. Additionally, PHAB is a voluntary national accreditation program, however the State of Ohio requires that all local health departments become accredited by 2020, making it imperative that all PHAB requirements are met.
PHAB standards also require that a community health improvement model is utilized when planning CHIPs. This CHIP was completed using NACCHO’s MAPP process. MAPP is a national, community-driven planning process for improving community health. This process was facilitated by HCNO in collaboration with various local agencies representing a variety of sectors.
