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

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.

Virginia is one of the 14 communities surveyed by Essentia.

Our most recent CHNA identified the following needs for the Essentia Health-Virginia service 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 the Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency to incentivize consumption of local produce from farmers markets, support community gardening opportunities in Virginia alongside Iron Range Partnership for Sustainability and encourage physical activity through supporting enhancements to parks and trails in Chisholm and Hibbing.
• Injury prevention: Essentia plans to partner with the Minnesota Department of Public Safety to educate parents about car seat use and child passenger safety.

“The Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency (AEOA) chose to partner with Essentia’s community health department because our missions align in promoting health, wellness and equitable access to resources,” said Carrie Pellinen, food access manager at AEOA. “By combining access, education and economic support, the partnership between AEOA and Essentia creates a more food-secure and health-conscious 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

• Social connectedness: Essentia promoted social well-being by partnering with various organizations to build community and foster healthy relationships. It supported the launch of a Boys and Girls Club in Hibbing, helped Hibbing High School students complete a service-learning project and worked with organizations like YESS, the Minnesota Discovery Center and the United Way to provide mental health resources, counseling and volunteer opportunities. Essentia continued these efforts by expanding mental health programs for high school students and enhancing volunteer engagement through the United Way’s platform.
• Access to healthy food: Essentia supported community access to healthy food by partnering with the Iron Range Partnership for Sustainability to sustain a community garden program in Virginia and helping upgrade the Hibbing Farmers Market. It also promoted Indigenous food traditions through a partnership with the Bois Forte Food Sovereignty Group and facilitated discussions on equitable food access through a walk audit in Virginia. Essentia expanded its support for farmers markets, sponsored programs to distribute local produce to children and engaged the community in Hibbing to improve walkability and food access.
• 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."