UPMC Identifies Four Priority Areas for Addressing Community Health Needs

PITTSBURGH – UPMC’s commitment to improve the health of all the communities it serves is reflected in its recently published 2019 Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNA) and Implementation Plans.

In the reports, UPMC identifies the four most significant health needs across all UPMC communities:

UPMC partnered with experts from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health to conduct the CHNAs, which consist of a combination of public health data analysis, socioeconomic factors and a structured community input survey process that solicited feedback from more than 2,000 community stakeholders such as leaders and organizations that represent patient constituencies — including medically underserved, low-income and minority populations.  

The CHNA is a rigorous process to identify and prioritize the communities’ health needs, establish action plans and identify resources to address those needs. The 2019 reports build on prior assessments and implementation plans developed in 2013 and 2016, recognizing that significant health needs will generally require more than 2 to 3 years to show meaningful improvement.

All licensed non-profit hospitals in the country are required to conduct and publish a satisfactory CHNA as part of a three-year cyclical process in order to be compliant with IRS 501(r) guidelines.

“At UPMC, we do more than just check the CHNA boxes,” said Leslie Davis, UPMC senior vice president, and executive vice president and chief operating officer, UPMC Health Services Division. “We approach the CHNA requirement as an opportunity to engage the community with a formally structured and detailed process guided by public health experts to ensure that health improvement efforts and resources are aligned with the most significant health needs of all of the diverse communities that UPMC serves.”

Because of its vast geographic hospital network, for the first time, UPMC used a regional hub approach to develop the 2019 CHNAs — allowing local communities to set priorities, while supporting a coordinated community health strategy across each hospital in the UPMC network. UPMC’s CHNA regions are: 

Each report establishes specific local priorities unique to its communities, and all UPMC hospitals are focusing efforts within the four identified significant health needs.  

For example, in Allegheny County, UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital is focused on maternal/infant health, women’s health, and underserved populations. Within the behavioral health priority, UPMC Magee provides community-based, family focused programs, such as the Pregnancy & Women’s Recovery Center and the Parent Partnership Unit, both of which address the needs of opioid-dependent mothers and babies. In addition, UPMC Magee offers post-partum depression services in collaboration with UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital. 

The board of directors at each hospital adopted plans to address the needs identified and track associated improvements. The new reports document progress since prior CHNAs and delineates hospital-specific implementation plans that will address needs from 2019–2022. 

“We are deeply rooted in our communities. With the essential collaboration with community partners, each of our hospitals is making measurable progress on its health initiatives, demonstrating an ongoing commitment to improving community health, and the CHNAs serve as a vital roadmap for our mission,” Davis said.