Community Health Needs Assessment

Ochsner Health System has provided the residents of Southeast Louisiana with high-quality, affordable healthcare for more than 70 years. We are a local, not-for-profit partner and are driven by our mission to ensure we meet the healthcare needs of the region for years to come. We have a community board and we are community-focused. It is a multi-specialty, academic, not-for-profit integrated healthcare delivery system with eight hospitals and more than 37 neighborhood health centers throughout Southeast Louisiana providing health care close to home.

The Ochsner mission, We Serve, Heal, Lead, Educate, and Innovate, intentionally begins with service. Service to patients, families, employees, and the community is at the heart of all activities. Six “Imperatives” guide our work: Quality, People, Loyalty, Academics, Stability, and Community.

Since its founding, Ochsner has been dedicated to community service. The size and capability of Ochsner Health System translates into an ability—and responsibility—to affect the future of the region. In recent years, a concerted effort has been made to plan strategically for how Ochsner can best use the institution’s resources of time, expertise, and funds to affect positive change and build a healthier region. Senior Leadership has identified four principles guiding community outreach at Ochsner:

Participate or lead in those areas where our presence matters. Our contribution to success must be necessary and evident.
Concentrate on those areas which play to our strengths, so we are more likely to succeed in our efforts.
Focus on the correction of root causes of problems rather than on the symptoms of those problems.
When possible, partner with others, so we can both succeed for the benefit of the community. Many of the major problems which confront us are beyond the ability of only one organization to solve.

Community Health Needs Assessments

This project represents an important initiative to identify and explore the ever changing healthcare landscape. It fulfills the requirements of a new federal statute established within the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requiring that nonprofit hospitals conduct CHNA’s every three years. The CHNA process undertaken by Ochsner’s Hospitals, with project management and consultation by Tripp Umbach, included extensive input from persons who represent the broad interests of the communities served by the hospital facilities, including those with special knowledge of public health issues. Tripp Umbach worked closely with senior leadership from each of the hospitals to accomplish the assessment.

Please direct any comments on these documents to communityoutreach@ochsner.org.