About the Ozarks Health Commission
Recognizing the value of collaboration, local hospital systems, public health entities and other health organizations have worked together under the umbrella of the Ozarks Health Commission to publish regional health assessments every three years since 2016. The Ozarks Health Commission Region is centered in southwest Missouri, and represents the combined service areas of CoxHealth, Freeman Health System and Mercy Hospitals.
As we prepare to launch the 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment reports, only the PDF versions of previous reports will be available. Thank you for your understanding.
What is a Community health needs assessment (CHNA)?
Since 2016, hospital systems, local public health agencies (LPHAs) and other health care partners in the greater Ozarks have worked together to release comprehensive Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) every three years. This group, known as the Ozarks Health Commission (OHC), released community-level reports in 2016, 2019 and 2022. For the fourth iteration, the 2025 assessment has been compiled into community-level and regional snapshots, continuing the regional scope introduced in 2022.
Health care partners and LPHAs develop the results of these assessments into Community Health Improvement Plans (CHIPs), which organizations use to target areas of health need and disparity in communities and create actionable plans to make them better over time.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires hospital systems to conduct population-based assessments every three years to maintain nonprofit status. The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) requires these assessments from LPHAs every five years.
Ozarks Health Commission
A collaborative effort spanning 3 states, 33 counties and 4 hospital systems.