A health issues survey out for public response through June 30 will help guide Cordova Community Medical Center (CCMC) to address community health needs.
The survey every three years, as federally required, is to learn what health care issues are most important to Cordovans, where they get their health care information, and whether they are aware of the services provided, according to Barbara Jewell, director of community programs at CCMC.
“We want more people to know about it because how health care will be provided in Cordova is a hot topic,” she said. “The survey is one part of the health needs assessment.”
Once the survey is completed, results are assessed and a CCMC approved report is posted to the general public, she said.
The survey, which may be completed by all Cordova residents who are at least 18 years of age, asks people to rate their three biggest health concerns, three biggest barriers to health care, and three biggest reasons why people are not getting services they need – as well as why they are not getting the behavioral health care services they need.
The survey asks about people who have to travel outside of Cordova for appointments, ranging from primary care and allergies to psychiatry and other specialties.
In addition, the survey asks for concerns about workplace violence in healthcare, programs that have successfully addressed health care challenges in Cordova, and what the survey respondent would like CCMC to focus on over the next three years.
There are a total of 16 questions.
Jewell acknowledged that one of the biggest concerns that women have to go to Anchorage for is birthing their children, since there are no obstetricians or midwives in Cordova.
“It took a lot of community education to explain why we don’t have that here,” she said. “We do have specialty clinics, particularly orthopedics and pediatrics, but we don’t have a cardiologist because we don’t have a large enough population. Often people want things we don’t have capacity to do because of finances like elder care and home care services. It demands more infrastructure than we can afford,” she said.
For behavioral health care, CCMC is only able to provide an outpatient level of care for issues like substance abuse and mental health. Cordova historically has had a high level of substance abuse issues, mostly with alcohol, but it is better now than it has been in the past, she said.
The survey is conducted every three years.
As for prioritization of health needs, there were 96 responses in the 2022 survey to the question asking what the CCMC can do best to meet the health needs of the community, with eight people answering “I don’t know.”
Among the responses were a request for consistent providers, community education for available services, an increase in the availability of specialists, an increase and improvement in mental health and substance use disorder services, whole person care, and insurance access and education.
