HONESDALE, PA — Programs to address COVID-19 concerns, both physical and mental, as well as other mental health services, topped a list of still-unmet needs in a recent Wayne Memorial Hospital needs-assessment survey.

Improved access to care and services for older adults followed close behind, and respondents asked for more services for cancer and heart disease.

The latter two are the top causes of death in the state; COVID-19 is third.

The survey, a community health needs assessment, covered the region served by Wayne Memorial Hospital (WMH) and Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers.

The current survey consisted of five focus groups, a public survey completed by 526 individuals and interviews with 21 key community stakeholders including patients, government officials, human service agency leaders and school district officials.

It was conducted by East Stroudsburg University’s Institute for Public Health Research and Innovation, and was overseen by WMH’s community health manager, Carol Kneier.

“COVID-19 really changed the landscape covered by this survey,” said Kneier. “While many community members complimented Wayne Memorial on its handling of the disease—the treatment, vaccines and communications—they also admitted that COVID heightened many existing problems, such as depression, suicide and substance abuse. This is mirrored nationally as well.”

According to numerous studies, overdose deaths and alcohol use rose substantially nationwide during 2021.

Nearly one-third of all deaths in Wayne and Pike counties are alcohol-related, higher than the PA average. In Wayne County, intentional self-harm is the fourth leading cause of death.

In interviews, school officials, along with healthcare and social service agencies, said they had all increased staffing in mental health services, but the “need still outpaces the ability to meet it.”

Survey participants also checked off a need for more caregiver support groups and more nursing home beds in a region challenged by a high rate of deaths per 100,000 people—33.8 in Wayne County alone versus 21.4 in the entire state of Pennsylvania. Both rates are age-adjusted.

The ratio of primary care providers to population remains suboptimal, but among those who did have primary care providers, the care was rated very positively.

James Pettinato, hospital CEO, said he was grateful to the survey participants. “This survey is used not only by us but by other agencies as well to help guide the development and growth of services that best meet the needs of the community we serve.”

An action plan or proposed implementation of services to answer the top needs is expected sometime in the fall.

Besides having their voices heard, public survey participants who volunteered their email addresses were entered into a random drawing for one of four $50 gift cards.

“We always experience good service at Wayne Memorial,” Argyro Paspalas, one of the gift card winners, said.

The complete findings of the survey, which is required by the Internal Revenue Service every three years, can be found at www.wmh.org/chna-community-health-needs-assessment/.

Contributed by Wayne Memorial Hospital.