Community Impact
Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs)
To ensure that we always serve the needs of the communities we serve, each hospital in our health system conducts health needs assessments. Assessing community health needs and developing the appropriate plans to address these needs are essential to improving and sustaining the health of our communities. These assessments allow us to understand each individual community, the needs identified and the process for moving forward to improve health throughout Louisiana and Mississippi.
Although this has been a commitment for many years, the passage in 2010 of the Affordable Care Act has brought additional purpose and focus to this process. In each community, we work with other healthcare providers, community organizations, advocates and other leaders to develop the assessment. Once complete, we develop strategies to address the needs.
Serving as the hands and feet of Jesus, the people of Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System have been moved to respond to the needs of the community members we are privileged to serve, especially those in most need. The hospitals in our health system share two common goals linked to access to care: (1) Social Determinants of Health and (2) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Other significant community needs being addressed in the current CHNAs are:
- access to cancer screenings, primary care, mental health, and transportation
- diabetes
- maternal and child health
- improving health literacy, sexually transmitted disease and HIV
- violence prevention
- care for the elderly
- obesity / sedentary lifestyles
- substance abuse
- affordable healthcare for people/families with low income
- counseling services for depression or anxiety
- heart health or cardiovascular health
- prescription assistance
- specialty care services
Our Most Recent Community Health Needs Assessments
Previous CHNAs
Service to the Community: Helping Louisiana and Mississippi Residents
Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System and our affiliates are active, caring members of the communities we serve. As we carry out our mission of serving those most in need and striving for equity and fairness in all relationships, we have committed to providing care to the needy without seeking reimbursement.
Our mission extends not only to those who are poor but also to those who are vulnerable due to lack of insurance coverage, citizenship status, health status, age, education level and other factors that compromise their ability to achieve good health.
Examples of Community Benefit We Provide Include:
- Total charitable donations to the state and local area of more than $190 million in fiscal year 2020-2021. This includes both their charity care, government sponsored care and the cost of the benefits the hospital provides to the local area.
- Our physicians, faculty and other team members provide hundreds of hours in volunteer services.
Other Community Benefits:
- Subsidized health services, including the discount provided, at cost, to all patients that have no form of insurance coverage.
- Community clinics that serve the underinsured or uninsured, or that provide free medical care to the homeless population.
- Community health improvement services.
- Programs that provides free or low cost medications.
- Congregational Health Services to some churches.
- School-based health services that provide comprehensive healthcare to students.
- Community building activities that enhance the overall community such as emergency preparedness programs.
- Donations and in-kind contributions, including donations to area community organizations such as United Way, American Heart Association and many others.
- Health professions education, such as clinical setting for undergraduate, vocational training, internships, clerkships and residencies.
- Cash and in-kind contribution to community groups.
- Leadership development and training for community members.
- Workforce development that promotes leadership and provides exposure to various careers in healthcare.
- Nursing call center that offers complimentary 24-hour nurse advice, health information aid and physician referrals.
- Elderly services including elderly housing.
- Palliative care service for patients in the final stage of life and their family members.
- Family education and children support services.
- Clinical research through participation in projects to improve the health and care of patients and community members.
Funding Guidelines and Considerations
Based on the priority areas identified within our CHNAs, we invest in key areas by market.
After considering how strongly a proposal aligns with our CHNA priority areas and our core values, we evaluate every request according to the following criteria:
- Soundness of fiscal, strategic, governance, and program delivery practices.
- Past success, demonstrated impact, or strong potential for impact.
- Use of evaluation to assess progress toward goals.
- Openness to collaboration and being part of a broader approach to improving the lives of community members, with special emphasis on identifying and improving non-clinical factors or the social determinants of health (SDOH) in our community.
- Programs or services that uncover the root causes of the health needs in our community and help address those needs with social interventions.
Our Community Contributions Committees meet regularly to review requests within each market. Applications must be submitted 90 days prior to the event to be considered.
Organizations and/or programs that discriminate based on race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status will not be granted funding.
We are unable to fund the following types of requests:
- Capital campaigns
- Building endowments or reserve funds
- Membership campaigns
- Retroactive funding, i.e., activities, projects or programs that will be completed before funding becomes available
- Debt retirement
- Grants to individuals
- Grants for regranting purposes
- Conferences, symposia, and related travel
- Grants for medical, scientific or academic research
- Grants that further political doctrine