Bill Text: VA HB278 | 2022 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Community health assessments and community health improvement plans; impact on health of residents.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-02-03 - Stricken from docket by Health, Welfare and Institutions (21-Y 0-N) [HB278 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2022-HB278-Prefiled.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. §1. That the Department of Health shall conduct a pilot program in up to three local health districts in the Commonwealth to evaluate the impact of community health assessments and community health improvement plans on the health of residents of the Commonwealth. Local health districts selected for the pilot program shall be local health districts (i) comprised of at least three localities and (ii) in which more than 20 percent of the population in at least 50 percent of the localities comprising the health district live in poverty, as determined by the Department using the data on poverty as a social determinant of health maintained by the Department. At least one local health district selected for the pilot program shall include at least one urban locality, and at least one local health district selected for the pilot program shall consist primarily of rural localities. Local health districts selected for the pilot program shall:
1. Conduct an initial community health assessment, which shall (i) evaluate the overall health of the population served; (ii) identify areas for health improvement, including unmet health needs of and poor health outcomes among the population served; and (iii) identify factors contributing to the identified areas for health improvement;
2. Develop, within two years of completion of the initial community health assessment, a five-year community health improvement plan to address areas for health improvement identified as a result of the initial community health assessment, which plan shall (i) include specific goals and outcomes for measuring improvements in public health resulting from implementation of the plan; (ii) set out a detailed strategy to meet the goals and achieve the outcomes identified, which shall include identification of specific actions to be taken, the community partner or stakeholder responsible for taking each such action, and the resources that must be mobilized for each such action to be carried out; (iii) specify the cost of achieving the health district's stated goals and identify those community resources that may contribute to the fulfillment of the community health improvement plan and what resources must be provided by other funding sources including state and federal funds, private grants, or charitable contributions; and (iv) be developed in collaboration with community partners and other stakeholders;
3. Beginning one year after completion of the initial community health assessment, conduct annual community health assessments to identify changes in the overall health of the community served, including any changes in unmet health needs of and health outcomes among the population served; and
4. Annually report the progress of developing the initial or annual community health assessment.
§2. The Department of Health shall report annually by December 1 to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health regarding the pilot program established pursuant to §1. Such annual report shall include information about the local health districts selected for participation in the pilot program; the content of the initial community health assessment; the content of the five-year community health improvement plans; the content of the most recent community health assessments and any changes since the previous community health assessment; and any changes in public health in the local health districts selected for participation in the pilot program.
