Survey focuses on local health needs

The Cascade Valley Health Foundation and local Hospital District hope to learn more about what local residents want for their own health and well-being.

In partnership with the Providence Institute for a Healthier Community, the groups are asking community members who live in Arlington or Darrington to provide feedback in a confidential survey that will be open until April 15.

The survey is available online at www.bit.ly/stillysurvey19.

Heather Logan, president of the Cascade Valley Health Foundation, said that the organization is looking for guidance on what local residents want.

“Our goal is to create that north star,” that will help provide direction for the foundation.

She said that Public Hospital District No. 3 and the Cascade Valley Health Foundation have been in transition since Skagit Regional Health took over operations at Cascade Valley Hospital.

They are now looking for the best ways to serve the community.

“We look forward to learning from our residents about their sense of health and well-being, their access to support services and their connection to the Stilly Valley community,” said Ardis Schmiege, superintendent of Stilly Valley Health Connections (Public Hospital District No. 3).

Logan said there are a lot of good numbers and statistics out there about the needs of Snohomish County residents, however she hopes to hear directly from them.

“We’re doing this survey so that the Public Hospital District and the Cascade Valley Health Foundation have a good idea of what the community wants,” she said. “What do they think about their own health and well-being?”

She hopes that the survey will bring the wants of the community into sharper focus.

The foundation raises funds and gives money out to local organizations in efforts to improve community health.

“We will look at the results to help us decide where we should be sending our grant money to,” said Logan.

“For a number of years we bought equipment to help Cascade Valley Hospital, but we’re moving away from that kind of grant into other projects,” she said.

One recent grant allowed Snohomish County to purchase an ATV that will be used on the Centennial Trail and other places.

“That is a well-loved and often traveled trail,” that gets people out walking or riding their bicycle, said Logan, and the ATV allows for the trail to be better maintained and policed.

The survey takes about 10 minutes to fill out and includes questions about how you feel about your safety and health in general, the screenings and resources you’ve used and if you have a chronic disease, how much support and resources do you have in the community.

“We never ask for your identity unless you want to enter a drawing for a gift card,” said Logan.

“Even then, that info is not seen by us but by the people administering the survey,” she said.

More information about Stilly Valley Health Connection and the Stilly Valley Health Foundation is available at www.stillyvalleyhealth.org.