Mount Nittany Health’s commitment to community health is embodied by its mission statement: We are here to make people healthier.

As a trusted local healthcare leader, Mount Nittany Health is committed to understanding and addressing the most pressing health and wellness concerns for our community. Therefore, every three years Mount Nittany Health conducts a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) and creates a corresponding implementation plan to address the health priorities identified by the CHNA.

Mount Nittany Health has conducted the 2019 CHNA in partnership with Centre Foundation, Centre County United Way, and Centre County Government. The 2019 CHNA builds upon previous assessments conducted in 2013 and 2016 and will continue to guide our community benefit and community health improvement efforts. 

The CHNA process is a collaborative one, in which we actively seek input and information from various key community stakeholders and the population at large. The following research was conducted to determine the community health needs: a review of public health and demographic data, an analysis of hospital discharge data, a key informant survey, three focus groups, and a partner forum.

Overall, Centre County is one of the healthiest counties in the state, ranked #2 out of 67 counties in Pennsylvania by the national County Health Rankings. As a whole, county residents have better access to care, lower rates of morbidity and mortality due to chronic conditions, higher life expectancy, and better health outcomes for vulnerable populations including mothers, youth, and seniors.

However, in all communities, at all times, there is room for improvement on many health issues and needs. While Centre County is an overall healthy community, positive health indicators are not uniform across the county, impacting the Centre Region and rural areas to differing degrees.  The 2019 CHNA identified three priority areas based on the scope and severity of the issue affecting Centre County residents:

• Behavioral health
• Substance abuse
• Chronic disease

If you have questions about the CHNA please contact Jeannine Lozier, community outreach coordinator, at jlozier@mountnittany.org.