{"id":13620,"date":"2026-02-06T11:45:49","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/southwest-health-completes-community-health-needs-assessment-outlines-priorities\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:38:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:38:47","slug":"southwest-health-completes-community-health-needs-assessment-outlines-priorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/southwest-health-completes-community-health-needs-assessment-outlines-priorities\/","title":{"rendered":"Southwest Health completes Community Health Needs Assessment, outlines priorities"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Southwest
Southwest Memorial Hospital offers a strong diabetes education program. (Photo by Southwest Health System)<\/span>Southwest Health System<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Southwest Health System has completed its most recent Community Health Needs Assessment, a comprehensive review of health care usage, practices and needs in its service area.<\/p>\n

The survey is required every three years for hospitals that are tax\u2011exempt under the Affordable Care Act, according to a release from Southwest Health System. It identifies the community\u2019s \u201cgreatest health needs\u201d and provides a \u201cblueprint\u201d for addressing those challenges through an implementation plan.<\/p>\n

SHS collaborated with Community Hospital Consulting in Plano, Texas, for the survey.<\/p>\n

\"Joe
Joe Theine, CEO, Southwest Health System<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe studied our hospital\u2019s service area, which includes Montezuma County,\u201d CEO Joe\u00a0Theine said, who was among the hospital leadership team involved in the study. \u201cThe analyses include a careful review of the most current health data available, local demographics and input from several representatives of our community. The CHNA process is very thorough, and culminates in a blueprint CHNA report and implementation plan intended to address our area\u2019s most significant needs over the next three years.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to SHS, the survey provided four priority areas of focus: continuing efforts to recruit and retain health care workers, improving access to mental and behavioral health services and providers, emphasizing ways to address preventable conditions and unhealthy lifestyles, and addressing \u201cvital conditions\u201d to reduce health disparities among \u201cspecific populations.\u201d These goals are similar to previous assessments.<\/p>\n

SHS Chief Nursing Officer Lisa Gates, Chief Medical Officer Jennifer Gero and Quality Coordinator Nikki Young collaborated on questions asked by The Journal.<\/em><\/p>\n

Addressing mental health challenges, reducing community disparities and promoting education and prevention have been priorities for six years. During that time, SHS has expanded its services through the School\u2011Based Health Clinic and strengthened its partnerships with Axis, creating \u201cclear referral pathways\u201d for students and community members.<\/p>\n

SHS has also worked with the Public Health Department to provide Question, Persuade, Refer trainings and other programs that support health awareness and early intervention.<\/p>\n

In emergencies, case managers follow up with patients for mental health visits and coordinate with Axis \u201cto ensure continuity of care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among community members surveyed, 72.2% said mental health access was a priority.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt SHS, we envision that in three years, mental health access in Montezuma County is strengthened through deep, ongoing collaboration with our local and regional partners. Our goal is to help build a connected network of support that makes services clear, coordinated and welcoming for everyone,\u201d Gates, Gero and Young said. \u201cWe hope to expand access through community events, innovative telehealth options and continued partnerships that meet people where they are. Ultimately, we want every resident to feel that mental health care in our county is accessible, responsive and truly part of the fabric of our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2026, SHS plans to continue focusing on \u201cexpanding education and outreach around preventable conditions and healthy lifestyles,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

A health fair will be offered Saturday, April 18. Diabetes education and support will continue, as will blood drives, sports physicals, annual wellness exams and immunizations.<\/p>\n

Through its partnership with the Western Health Alliance\u2019s Community Care Alliance, SHS will support chronic care management for select Medicare patients. The long\u2011term goal is to \u201cexpand access and strengthen preventive care services for more residents in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Community members can review the survey and submit feedback for the implementation plan<\/a> at https:\/\/bit.ly\/SHSsurvey26. Updates on events and implementation steps are available at www.swhealth.org or on the hospital\u2019s Facebook page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

was done in collaboration with Community Hospital Consulting in Texas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,28,60,29,210,538],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-13620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter","tag-southwest-health-system","tag-southwest-memorial-hospital"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13620"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77080,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13620\/revisions\/77080"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13620"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=13620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}