Essentia Health partners with local groups to identify community health needs and drive improvements in Brainerd

Essentia Health’s mission is to make a healthy difference in people’s lives, and that work extends beyond the walls of our hospitals and clinics.

Just like patients, each community has unique needs. To determine priorities, Essentia conducts a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) every three years in each community that is home to one of its 14 hospitals. Town hall meetings, focus groups and surveys are among the ways Essentia collects information on what is important to people and what gaps we can help to address.

Brainerd is one of the 14 communities surveyed by Essentia.

Our most recent CHNA identified the following needs for the Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Medical Center (Brainerd) area.

• Social drivers of health: Essentia plans to operate a Community Health Worker Program, administer a community resource directory called “Resourceful” and support organizations through a Community Grants program.
• Nutrition and movement: Essentia plans to partner with Crow Wing Energized to encourage healthy eating through the One Vegetable One Community, reThink Your Drink and “restaurant-approved healthier dish” programs. Essentia also plans to support healthy choices through hosting a community fitness app and offering evidence-based nutrition and exercise classes.
• Mental wellness: Essentia plans to provide adult education about mental health to community members and partner with Brainerd Public Schools to deliver youth education and programming related to healthy self-awareness and positive coping.

With support from Essentia Health and Crow Wing Energized, Central Lakes College plans to continue hosting the annual 5K for Mental Health Awareness in Brainerd. “The partnership with Essentia allows us to fund portions of the race expenses and continue hosting this important event,” said Alita Reque-Peterson, psychology instructor at Central Lakes College. “We host a mental health resource fair where local mental-wellness organizations table and share about how they can help with mental wellness. The event also encourages the community to exercise—it is a one-mile walk/5K run event—and provides a sense of community.”

The key to gathering accurate data is to get input from a wide range of community members, particularly those who are medically underserved and those in minority groups. The information helps health systems decide how to make the greatest impact and which areas to focus on.

For example, after our last CHNA in 2022, we focused on the following priority areas for this service area:

• Mental health: Essentia promoted mental health through several initiatives and events in collaboration with Crow Wing County and other local organizations. These included the Crow Wing Energized Annual Summit, mental health resource fairs and training sessions on topics like QPR, ACEs and Make It OK. In addition, Essentia supported events like “Stomp Out the Stigma!” and helped publish a book to raise awareness and reduce stigma around mental health, further strengthening community engagement and education.
• Tobacco use: Essentia partnered with Crow Wing County to reduce tobacco use by promoting cessation resources and supporting the development of a new tobacco ordinance. This effort expanded in subsequent years with a study on tobacco retailers, revealing that convenience stores are the largest sellers of tobacco. The findings helped shape and introduce the new ordinance, with ongoing policy work led by Crow Wing County.
• Healthy eating and active living: Essentia promoted healthy eating and physical activity through several initiatives, including the “One Vegetable, One Community” program, which educated first-grade students about healthy eating. The “Rethink Your Drink” campaign, aimed at reducing sugary beverage consumption, expanded to local businesses and involved the community. Physical activity programs, such as Matter of Balance, the National Diabetes Prevention Program and Stay Active and Independent for Life classes, were offered to help individuals maintain their health and independence, with continued support for community initiatives like the Brainerd Family YMCA.
• Resourceful: Resourceful is a publicly available community resource directory, designed to connect individuals with free and reduced-cost services. Since its launch in 2021 more than 4,500 programs have been added to the resource directory and over 32,000 individuals have used the directory. Resourceful has facilitated more than 25,000 referrals to community-based organizations.

"At Essentia, our commitment to the communities we serve is at the heart of everything we do,” said Emily Kuenstler, Essentia’s community health director. “We believe that true health care extends far beyond the walls of our hospitals and clinics—it's about partnering with local organizations, listening to diverse voices and addressing the unique needs that impact well-being every day. By conducting regular Community Health Needs Assessments and investing in programs that promote nutrition, physical activity and access to resources, we're dedicated to making a lasting, positive difference in people's lives."