In 2012, the Kansas Health Foundation made a generous grant to the Kansas Health Institute in order to support progress toward community health needs assessments (CHA/CHNA), community health improvement plans (CHIP), and strategic plans for local public health departments and for non-profit hospitals.
In collaboration with the Area Health Education Centers (University of Kansas Medical Center), the Kansas Association of Local Health Departments and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, KHI has worked on a variety of initiatives to assist local health departments in preparing for accreditation and non-profit hospitals in fulfilling the IRS reporting standards as outlined in the ACA.
As part of these activities, KHI and its partners developed guidance documents for the CHA, CHIP, and strategic plan. These documents guide agencies through the essential steps of completing each step in the accreditation process.
Many agencies that completed the first round of CHA in 2011 and 2012 now need to begin the cycle again, KHI is sharing these documents in order to re-energize the efforts toward collaboration and quality health assessment and improvement planning.
