Abstract:
Aim: This study aims to examine the extent to which nonprofit hospitals describe climate-sensitive hazards in their community health needs assessments (CHNAs).Background: Climate change is a pressing public health problem that calls for supportive programming tailored to communities. Nonprofit hospitals are uniquely positioned as medical anchor institutions to support their communities as climate-sensitive hazard risk increases through federally mandated CHNAs and community benefit investments.
Design: We performed a content analysis of nonprofit hospital CHNAs in United States counties determined to have Very High Risk of natural hazard impacts, as determined by the National Risk Index (NRI). We assessed what climate-sensitive hazards are included in CHNAs and how they are described, including whether they are identified as a priority health need, which has been shown to indicate greater hospital investment in implementations to address the health need. Following content analysis, hospital and community characteristics were compared to assess for differences between hospitals that did and did not include climate-sensitive hazards as a priority health need.
Results: In a sample of 168 hospitals, the majority (85.1%) describe at least one climate-sensitive hazard in their CHNA. However, few (11.9%) consider these climate-sensitive hazards a priority health need of their community. Air pollution is the most commonly described climate-sensitive hazard (61.3%). Hospital and community characteristics did not differ between hospitals that did and did not indicate climate-sensitive hazards as a priority health need, with one exception: hospitals that included climate-sensitive hazards as a priority health need were located in counties with lower poverty rates.
Conclusion: In conclusion, our study suggests that while most hospitals in counties with Very High Risk of natural hazards mention at least one climate-sensitive hazard in their CHNAs, few consider them a priority health need of their community. Further research is needed to examine the national distribution of nonprofit hospitals' inclusion of climate-sensitive hazards in CHNAs and implementation strategies, as well as to understand the barriers and facilitators for hospital leadership in describing climate-sensitive hazards as priority health needs in their communities.