The Flex Monitoring Team’s past research indicates Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) need support in their efforts identifying and addressing community and population health needs. Despite a requirement by the Internal Revenue Service tax code for tax-exempt hospitals to conduct triennial community health needs assessments (CHNAs), it has been difficult to identify the extent to which CAHs engage members of the community, including members of vulnerable populations, in their efforts to assess their engagement activities. This project aims to:

1. Examine the challenges CAHs face in developing effective community partnerships;
2. Recommend strategies to assist CAHs and their communities;
3. Identify resources to support partnership development;
4. Describe effective governance structures;
5. Highlight promising examples of CAH/community partnerships.