Hospital-Community Collaborative Results in New Resource Directory

Davis County Hospital
Bloomfield, IA

Davis County Hospital completed a community health needs assessment in 2015 and identified a need for a written listing of resources available within the community. Local physicians were asking for a tool listing a few simple pages of area health care providers and resources with the most frequently requested patient services information to improve transitions and continuum of care for their patients. As the discussion continued, it was identified that if the area providers were having difficulty knowing what services are available and how to connect their patient/client to services, then the average person in the community is potentially having an even greater challenge in locating needed resources.

The Davis County Community Care Coalition, led by Davis County Hospital, took the lead on the project to develop a community resource guide. The coalition is a group that meets monthly to improve health care service collaboration between the area health care providers and by doing so improve health care delivery in Davis County. The coalition allows opportunity for area health services providers to better understand all that each individual provider offers for services. The coalition quickly determined two different resource guides would be most beneficial. The project was segmented into a physician’s quick reference guide, and a community resource directory.

The coalition d first identified service providers that were either physically located in Davis County or physically located outside of Davis County but would come to provide services here if needed. Health care services was defined as the opportunity to improve physical, mental or emotional well-being. Resources were listed together by category that provided similar services. Resource headings were terms that simply described listed services to make it easy for consumers to find. To be efficient for community members, a general listing of criteria was included if they would affect acceptance by the resource. The name, address, phone numbers, and operating hours were also listed for each resource. The completed resource material was then printed and ready for distribution.

The community coalition chose to make free printed paper copy directories available to all Davis County residents. To kick off the distribution of the resource guide, they were offered first at the Davis County Fair, the largest annual event in the county. Each Community Care Coalition member had free copies to hand out at their booths as well. During the fair, more than 300 paper copies of the directory were distributed.

The coalition also determined that local points of health care access should have a resource directory permanently available in their waiting areas. More than 30 copies were delivered to local offices of physicians, dentists, chiropractors as well as churches, senior life apartments and the hospital. These permanent copies were made visible with red binders and as durable as possible and both covers and vinyl-enclosed pages can be wiped clean for infection prevention.

The goal is to update the resource guide each and reprint and replace pages as needed. As the resource guide expands, information will be added about online resources. Numerous responses from physicians, coalition members and community members have indicated an increase in the referral and use of services within Davis County attributable to the guide.

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