Through our community benefit initiatives, The University of Vermont Health Network works to improve the health of the communities we serve by investing in organizations, programs and services that help us meet local community health needs. Each hospital in the UVM Health Network offers charity care, subsidized programs and / or other community programs to address community needs, promote health outcomes and improve access to care.
Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA)
The hospitals within our Network are required by the Affordable Care Act to conduct a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) every three years, with the goal of identifying health needs in the communities we serve. Through the CHNA, we survey community members to learn more about their health care priorities; we use this information to create new strategies to address these issues and to build upon our existing efforts to create healthier communities. The result is a formal strategic plan with identified goals and objectives that will be addressed by both the hospital and its community partners.
Below are some examples of community benefits in the UVM Health Network:
Well Fed – Elizabethtown Community Hospital
Well Fed, an Essex County, NY collaborative, is a partnership between Elizabethtown Community Hospital, the Essex County Health Department and many other key partners. The goal of the program is to improve health outcomes by increasing access to affordable, healthy, local food and reducing isolation in this rural area by creating opportunities to build connections around food.
Made possible by an Innovation Grant from the Adirondack Health Institute, Well Fed expands access to wholesome food, increases the number of vendors that accept the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), creates educational opportunities around shopping and food preparation and aims to reduce stigma around food accessibility.
Community Health Investment Committee – UVM Medical Center
The Community Health Investment Committee is a team of UVM Medical Center staff and community partners who grant $1M each year to partnering organizations that support the community’s identified areas of need. Recent grant recipients include:
- Mercy Connections, with funding supporting the organization’s Education and Transition Program to assist adults in transition or recovery.
- ANEW Place, which was able to continue providing personalized case management to those experiencing homelessness as a result of the grant.
To learn more or to get involved, please reach out to our Community Benefits Manager, Erin Armstrong.
Erin [dot] Armstrong
UVMHealth [dot] org (Contact Us to Learn More)
You can also click below for each of the UVM Health Network affiliate hospitals’ Community Health Needs Assessments and related community health improvement plans:
Central Vermont Medical Center
Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital