Local Public Health Assessment & Planning

  1. Community Health Needs Assessment & CHIP
  2. Strategic Plan
  3. Quality Improvement Plan

Community Health Assessment

At least every five years, the Benton County Public Health Unit conducts a Community Health Assessment (CHA). The purpose of this assessment is to learn about the health status of the people living in Benton County and identify areas for improvement. This assessment is then used to create a Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP).

In an effort to be more effective in meeting the needs of the community, the three Public Health Agencies in the counties of Benton, Sherburne, and Stearns, along with CentraCare, have developed a partnership called the Central Minnesota Community Health Partnership (Central MN Alliance).

Every three years, CentraCare is required to complete a Community Health Needs Assessment and develop an Community Health Improvement Plan to address identified needs. At the same time, all Local Public Health Agencies in Minnesota are required to complete this same type of assessment and an improvement plan every five years. Going forward, Local Public Health will align with CentraCare and complete this work, as a region, every three years.

This essential collaboration between hospitals and public health is important in order to address population health needs and to decrease the duplicative nature of these two separate assessment and planning requirements. Therefore, this document serves as the Community Health Needs Assessment and Community Health Improvement Plan for CentraCare and serves as the Community Health Assessment and Community Health Implementation Plan for Benton, Sherburne, and Stearns Counties.

Furthermore, this work has not been done in isolation but in collaboration with the community. There have been and will continue to be opportunities for input into the process, the product, and future needs or changes to the document. This is significant because it is not only a guide for these initial partners but is also the plan for interventions by you, the community.

We encourage you to continue to partner with all of us as we strive to make the Central Region of Minnesota the healthiest in the state!

Community Health Assessment 2022

Community Health Assessment Results 2019

Community Health Survey Results 2016

If you have difficulty viewing the entire page, please try clicking the "Full Screen" button in the bottom right of the page. It is not "mobile-friendly," best viewed on a desktop or larger tablet screen.

Community Health Survey Results 2013

Other Documents