2025 Community Health Needs Assessment

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Saint Francis Healthcare System recently completed the 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), and the results are now available for review. A CHNA must be conducted every three years by not-for-profit hospitals to comply with federal tax-exemption requirements under the Affordable Care Act. With the CHNA, the Healthcare System must adopt an implementation strategy to meet the community health needs identified through the assessment. The ultimate purpose of the CHNA is to improve community health. Primary and secondary research was conducted over several months. Primary research included four focus groups in the three counties targeted in the assessment – Cape Girardeau, Scott, and Stoddard Counties. Those counties were selected to assess because they represent the highest percentage of inpatient admissions to Saint Francis Medical Center in 2024. Additional primary data was collected via an extensive consumer survey that gathered more than 500 responses from residents of Southeast Missouri including Cape Girardeau, Scott, and Stoddard Counties. Primary data is important to collect because it provides the thoughts and opinions of what residents perceive as their most critical health needs. Secondary research included reviewing and extracting information from published data on the region from various federal, state and local sources. Secondary data is important because it reflects information on health needs from established healthcare research and statistical sources. When all data was collected, the CHNA team used a customized multi-factor prioritization process to determine the most crucial needs of the region which included 16 community health and service organizations from the three counties mentioned. The top four priority needs for Saint Francis’ CHNA were: 1) Chronic Disease 2) Affordable Medications 3) Healthy Food Access 4) Healthcare Capacity The CHNA includes an executive summary and an implementation plan for how the Healthcare System will address priority needs. See all reports at sfmc.net/chna Saint Francis Healthcare System is guided by our Mission to provide a ministry of healing, wellness, quality and love inspired by our faith in Jesus Christ. Founded by Franciscan Sisters in 1875, our priority remains the same: serve all who enter with dignity, compassion and joy. This marks the 150th year of Saint Francis’ service to Southeast Missouri. Anchored by Saint Francis Medical Center, a 306-bed tertiary hospital, and supported by more than 3,000 employees and more than 400 providers in ten communities, the Healthcare System is a driving economic force in the region. Major services include the Cancer Institute, Emergency and Level III Trauma Center, Family BirthPlace and Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Heart Hospital, Neurosciences and Orthopedics.