Door County Community Health Improvement Plan Now Available

Collaborative plan focuses on social drivers

After delays caused by COVID-19 and staff changes at Door County Public Health, the latest Community Health Improvement Plan is now published and available to the community.

However, much of the work outlined in the plan is already well under way.

The State of Wisconsin mandates that local health departments conduct a Community Health Assessment (CHA) and community health improvement plan (CHIP) every five years. Due to the pandemic, this requirement was loosened for the last CHA/CHIP cycle. Healthcare systems, such as Door County Medical Center (DCMC) are required to perform a Community Health Needs Assessment every three years. Sometimes the cycles overlap, but regardless, the entities support one another’s work and share data.

Door County Public Health (DCPH) began a health assessment in 2020, which should have resulted in a 2021 CHA Report and a 2021-25 CHIP. That assessment was put on hold. DCPH digitally published their delated CHA in January of 2023. The latest CHIP is condensed to 2023-25, but the leadership team and process behind it is robust and DCPH hopes this

CHIP will have a strong impact in the community.

“When I started in my position in fall of 2022, we had a half-completed assessment,” Shauna Blackledge, Public Health Strategist for Door County Public Health. “There were six or seven of us representing three organizations at the table trying to do an immense amount of work. “We’ve been able to grow a leadership team of over 25 individuals who represent over 15 organizations in Door County. The group is energized and dedicated to improving the root causes of health issues impacting Door County.”

The areas of concern identified recently by the group were related to tourism, housing, and isolation, and from those, they developed the following focus areas:

1. Protection and prioritization of the local workforce and residents

2. Access to equitable housing

3. Social isolation

The leadership team identified four goal areas to address these focus areas, with several strategies under each. Members of the leadership team will serve as leads for each strategy with support from the

leadership team and other community entities to advance their work.The completed CHA and CHIP are available electronically at co.door.wi.gov/CHA_CHIP. An online dashboard with interactive data to track progress of the CHIP objectives will be added to the webpage in the coming weeks. Printed copies of the CHIP are available at Door County Public Health and throughout the community at partner organizations, including all Door County Library branches, both Door County YMCA locations, United Way of Door County, and others.

The Tourism, Housing and Isolation Impact on Community Health

Listen to the Door County Pulse Podcast at doorcountypulse.com/podcasts/ for a conversation between Peninsula Pulse Editor Debra Fitzgerald, and Shauna Blackledge, Door County Public Health strategist, about the County of Door’s latest Community Health Improvement Plan.