Oneida County seeks input for community-health survey

What do you think are the top health issues in Oneida County, or how would you rate local health-care services?

The Oneida County Health Department wants to hear your opinion on these and other health-related issues.

The department, along with the Mohawk Valley Health System and Rome Memorial Hospital are conducting a health-needs survey, seeking a “broad range of input from the community,” per a Monday news release.

All Oneida County residents are encouraged to take the brief survey by visiting www.ocgov.net/health. The deadline is June 30.

The survey, which should take about five minutes to complete, follows a community-health assessment stakeholder meeting held in March. In that session, a group of community partners and organizations discussed top area health issues.

Now, Oneida County wants to get similar input from the community on “top health issues of concern.”

“The community-health assessment helps us to check the pulse of our community and better address community needs,” Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, Jr. said in the release “By gaining input from the community, we can help to better understand what the issues are and why we have them.”

The next step will be a final report to reflect the compiled health data from all outreach efforts. The health department will use the report to develop its own health-improvement plan. It’ll also share the information with county health agencies, organizations, groups, and partnerships to “use as a guide for their own strategic planning.”

“This community-health assessment is a public health and hospital co-led collaboration which provides us with a snapshot of the health status of our community,” Phyllis Ellis, director of health for Oneida County, said. “Not all communities opt to do a collaborative health/hospital assessment but we do. We recognize the importance of all partners working together for the best health of Oneida County residents.”

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com