Ottawa County approves health assessment funding agreement after lengthy delay

OTTAWA COUNTY — After weeks of discussion and debate, the funding agreement for a critical community health assessment has been approved by the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners.

The commissioners voted to approve a memorandum of understanding for the Community Health Needs Assessment on Tuesday, May 9. The board had previously opted to delay approval over questions in a related survey.

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The memorandum of understanding outlines funding agreements between the Ottawa County Department of Public Health and various CHNA partners.

The agreement was approved in a 10-1 vote Tuesday. Chair Joe Moss, Vice Chair Sylvia Rhodea and Commissioners Gretchen Cosby, Doug Zylstra, Jacob Bonnema, Kyle Terpstra, Rebekah Curran, Roger Belknap, Roger Bergman and Allison Miedema voted in favor. Commissioner Lucy Ebel was the lone dissenting vote.

The Community Health Needs Assessment comprises several surveys and stakeholder interviews that gather input on the health needs of Ottawa County every three years. It's a partnership between the Ottawa County Department of Public Health, Holland Hospital, Corewell Health Zeeland Hospital, Trinity Health Grand Haven, United Way of Ottawa and Allegan Counties, Community Mental Health and other organizations.

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In addition to revealing needs and trends in the county, it helps the three hospitals meet regulatory requirements to keep their nonprofit, tax-exempt status. Partnering with the hospitals — rather than each hospital doing an assessment on their own — helps identify countywide trends.

Most recently, the board discussed the memorandum of understanding during a meeting Thursday, April 27. Concerns centered on questions asked during the Behavioral Risk Factor Survey, a key component of the CHNA. The BRFS is a phone survey of randomly selected county residents. It's voluntary and only administered to residents 18 and older.

In the time between meetings, some commissioners suggested adding a notice prior to survey sections on suicide and adverse childhood experiences to let responders know the coming topics involved sensitive questions.

Commissioners who requested the change said it would “put the individual’s needs above solely the survey results,” according to Miedema. That request was unanimously voted down by the Healthy Ottawa Advisory Committee, the group that determines what questions will be asked each survey cycle

“I thought … that it would be very reasonable to add a couple lines that would say, you know, here’s what we’re going to be asking about, would you like to answer these questions? That might have been a better way to do the survey,” Moss said. “I’d say, I guess, that I’m a little disappointed that the Health Ottawa Advisory Committee voted unanimously against giving respondents a little more informed consent up front.”

But according to an email from Deputy Health Director Marcia Mansaray to County Administrator John Gibbs, existing wording already adequately addresses the commissioners' concerns and adding the new language could cause the introductions to be "leading," meaning it could cause respondents "to answer in a different way than they would have, had the wording been more neutral."

The existing wording in the introduction has language like: "The next few questions are sensitive topics and some people may feel uncomfortable with these questions" and "I'd like to ask you some questions about events that happened in your childhood. This information will allow us to better understand problems that may occur early in life, and may help others in the future. ... Please keep in mind that you can ask me to skip any question you do not want to answer."

The surveyor also provides a phone number for a local organization that can provide support if the respondent wants it.

But commissioners are still unhappy.

“Very simple, reasonable requests were made to the health department and the Healthy Ottawa partners to watch out for the emotional needs of our community members and those simple, reasonable requests were rejected,” Rhodea said Tuesday. She added that she felt bureaucracies were being prioritized over the wellbeing of people.

Although the agreement was approved Tuesday, some commissioners vowed to be more vigilant in the future.

“This process has highlighted a need for more oversight and for proper process to happen in our county, which has been greatly lacking,” Rhodea said. “We will be looking for ways that we can take corrective action in the future and ensure that these things don’t just slip through in the first place again.”

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In April, Corewell Health, Holland Hospital and Trinity Health Grand Haven issued a joint statement saying they were “disappointed” the board delayed the approval.

“The Community Health Needs Assessment includes important research which enables our hospitals and community agencies to accurately identify the health needs of our community, develop strategies to address them, and collaborate to improve health outcomes for all individuals in Ottawa County."

— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @SentinelMitch.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Ottawa County approves health assessment funding agreement after lengthy delay