Lewis County Health Department Using Survey to Improve Services

The Lewis County Public Health Department wants to know how to better service the county.

For the first time in nearly 10 years, the health department has launched a survey to seek input from residents about the most important health issues in the county.

The survey is available on the department’s website, www.lewiscountywa.gov, through Sunday.

The survey, which takes about 5 minutes, will also be online at the following websites:

• CHOICE Regional Health Network atwww.crhn.org/home.asp

• Morton General Hospital at www.mortongeneral.org

• United Way of Lewis County at www.lewiscountyuw.com

• Valley View Health Center at vvhc.org/index.html

Copies of the survey are available at local libraries, shelters and coalitions.

Director Danette York said the health department will take the responses from the survey and use them for the Lewis County Community Improvement Plan recently launched by the health department.

The feedback will be used to help identify priority problems and create action plans to address them, according to the health department.

“It’s very general and very broad,” York said. “We will pull data out and start to look at how to address the problems.”

York said the department hopes to reach a wide variety of residents to help address gaps in service or access to health care around the county. The number of responses will be released next week.

“This is a huge effort,” York said.

The survey asks for demographic information and input from eight different questions.

Questions include: What are important factors for a healthy community? What are the most important problems in Lewis County? How would Lewis County rate as a healthy community?

For more information about the survey, visit the Lewis County Public Health and Social Services website or contact their office (360) 740-1223.