FREEPORT, Ill., March 17, 2023 — The League of Women Voters of Freeport and the Freeport branch of the NAACP are hosting a presentation from FHN outlining local healthcare needs as identified in the FHN Community Health Needs Assessment in December 2022. The event will take place from 6:30-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28 at FHN Family Healthcare Center—Burchard Hills, 1010 W. Fairway Drive in Freeport.
FHN Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Nursing Officer Kathryn J. Martinez, DHA, MSN, RN, FACHE will review the results of the FHN Community Health Needs Assessment, a federally required data collection and survey project that must be undertaken every three years, and FHN’s planned activities to address those needs. There will be plenty of time for questions, which will be answered by Martinez as well as FHN Family Nurse Practitioner Tamisha Bonvillain, FNP-BC, IBCLC. The public is invited and encouraged to attend this important session.
Input for FHN’s assessment was collected from area leaders as well as the community at large across a broad range of demographics and interests. Topics addressed included perspectives on a range of issues that affect the area’s health and well-being, such as community resources, barriers to care, and reasons for various types of disease and mortality. Areas for focus that were identified were prioritized into three primary categories by FHN’s Care Transitions Steering Committee: community identified needs, health and well-being, and chronic disease management. Specific tactics for the next three years have been slated for implementation to address these focus areas.
Recognizing that the national healthcare system should provide a basic level of quality care at an affordable cost for all residents, ensuring quality healthcare for all Americans is one of nine priorities identified by the National League of Women Voters. Basic care includes disease prevention, primary care (including prenatal and reproductive health), acute long-term care, and mental health care, as well as health promotion and education. For more information on this priority and how to help, as well as the other eight priorities outlined by the League – including topics such as voting rights, immigration, climate challenges, and gun violence – visit the national website.
FHN
Please note that the complete and current name of our regional healthcare organization is FHN. “Freeport Health Network” should not be used; please use FHN in all references.
FHN, a not-for-profit organization with nearly 1,200 team members, is an award-winning regional healthcare system committed to the health and well-being of the people of northwest Illinois and southern Wisconsin. FHN Memorial Hospital has been recognized as one of the state’s top hospitals for safety by the Leapfrog group and Healthgrades as well as by the world’s largest, completely independent, non-profit product- and service-testing organization. FHN caregivers serve an average of 1,500 people each day across FHN’s 17 locations in 5 counties spanning northwest Illinois. Organized in 1995 as an integrated healthcare delivery system, FHN is comprised of FHN Memorial Hospital, the Leonard C. Ferguson Cancer Center at FHN Memorial Hospital, 11 family healthcare centers offering primary and specialty medical care, hospice, and outpatient mental health services. For more information about FHN, please visit www.fhn.org.
NAACP
The NAACP is the nation’s oldest, largest and most widely recognized civil rights organization whose mission is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights for all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination. The Freeport, IL branch of the NAACP is led by Pat Norman, who previously held various positions of leadership in the Freeport School District, including Principal of Freeport High School from 1995 until 2002 after which she became the Director of Human Resources for FSD#145. To join or volunteer with the Freeport branch, contact the NAACP at PO Box 341, Freeport, IL 61032 or reach them online at https://naacpfreeport.org/. Annual memberships begin at $30.
The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. The national League was founded in Chicago in 1920 just six months before the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which allowed women to vote. The Freeport League, one of the oldest in the country, was established in 1923. To join the Freeport League of Women Voters, contact Julie Wenzel at 815-271-1681 or juljones@aeroinc.net. Annual memberships begin at $60.
