Every five years, the Oneida County Health Department updates its Community Health Improvement Plan.
The latest plan took about two years to produce and was based off community feedback.
“It actually stems from our Community Health Assessment, which is where we really survey the community and different stakeholders, local leaders, and get input on what they see might be areas for improvement in Oneida County,” said Maria Otterholt, the Oneida County Community Health Specialist.
All that information goes into the CHIP and sets the new health priorities the health department will focus on for the next five years.
From the recent assessment, there were four clear areas that Oneida County needs improvement in: housing, childcare, substance use, and mental health.
Otterholt says housing and childcare were two focus areas that hadn’t come up in past assessments for the health department.
“There are so many dimensions to health. You can be an overall healthy person, and there might be some other areas in our economy, in our community, that are struggling a little bit,” said Otterholt. “If we all come together and work together, that's where we can really start to make a difference and see these health changes impact us all.”
The Oneida County Health Department is holding a CHIP launch event Wednesday, November 13 at Nicolet College Northwood’s Center from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Different experts within the community will share where the community is at with these different focus areas and what they’ll be working on the next four years.
“Then for our areas, such as housing, that is a brand-new initiative here and we don't have a coalition, we'll kind of start by talking about why this is going to be a health priority for us, what data supported that, and what we're going to do moving forward,” said Otterholt.
The event is free. People are asked to RSVP.
Support for local health coverage on WXPR is brought to you in part by a grant from the Rhinelander Health Foundation.
