LIVONIA — After listening to community members, Trinity Health Livonia Hospital will be dedicating more resources to mental health, chronic illness and accessibility over the next three years.
The hospital, located at the corner of Five Mile and Levan roads, recently conducted a comprehensive community health needs assessment that included surveys, demographic analysis and focus groups with the western Wayne County community.
“This is a great opportunity to identify a need in the community and seek out resources to address that need,” said Laurie Gustafson, the hospital’s director of community health and human services.
Trinity Health Livonia, formerly known as St. Mary Mercy Hospital, undergoes an evaluation every three years to better understand what services the community needs. Western Wayne Suicide Prevention CoalitionFor example, it was born out of evaluation.
“This was born out of conversations about youth suicide and the desire of schools to do something about it,” Gustafson said. “They’ve done a great job over the years of training staff and students to talk to people who may be concerned about them. This effort has grown into much more than we ever imagined.”
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Gustafson said the three groups of hospital staff and partners will workshop ideas for services, programs and partnerships over the next three years in three new focus areas this year. Trinity Health Michigan spent more than $200 million last year on initiatives like those groups are launching.
“We’ve formed working groups on mental health, access to resources and chronic illness,” Gustafson said. “Each group has identified a focus community and conducted a gap analysis.”
Gustafson said one new program already addressing accessibility is the hospital’s Community Outreach Grant, which provides financial assistance to eligible community initiatives and programs.
“Our team is eager to get to work, allocate available resources, and continue to develop and support programs that address the critical health needs of our community,” said Dr. Matthew Griffin, president and chief medical officer of Trinity Health Livonia.
Reporter Shelby Tankersley can be contacted at [email protected] or 734-331-0659..
