40. Community Need This request impacts the communities served as well as benefits workforce development.

The communities served include:
Clark County, population 138,333, a total land area of 403 square miles with 15% of the population live below the poverty line. Per the Ohio Department of Health, “an average of 885 new invasive cancer cases and 350 deaths occurred each year among Clark County residents in 2014-2018 and the cancer incidence rate for all sites/types combined in Clark County was 493.1 per 100,000 residents, compared with the Ohio rate of 467.5 per 100,000 and the U.S. rate of 450.5 per 100,000.”

Champaign County a rural county with a population of 38,861, a total land area of 428.43 square miles, with 10.6% of the population live below the poverty line. Per the Ohio Department of Health, “an average of 245 new invasive cancer cases and 96 deaths occurred each year among Champaign County residents in 2014-2018 and the cancer incidence rate for all sites/types combined in Champaign County was 481.4 per 100,000 residents, compared with the Ohio rate of 467.5 per 100,000 and the U.S. rate of 450.5 per 100,000.”

The Springfield, Ohio community is characterized by high rates of poverty and continued economic distress. Between 1999 and 2014, median household incomes in Springfield declined by almost 27%, the largest decline of any metropolitan area in the United States (Pew Research Center, 2016). This economic decline figures into the community’s diminished health capacity and the reduced availability of health services. Mercy Health challenges this capacity by providing specific interventions and improving health care delivery including a full range of cancer treatment and support services. The cancer care team includes nationally certified radiation therapists, certified dosimetrists, physicists, oncology nurses, and board-certified doctors, all working together to design precise and highly specialized treatment plans for each patient diagnosed with cancer.

Mercy Health has been committed to the communities it serves for nearly two centuries. This long-standing commitment has evolved intentionally, based on our communities’ most pressing health needs. This ensures our resources for outreach, prevention, education, and wellness are directed toward opportunities where the greatest impact can be realized. Mercy Health aims to serve our patients and each other in ways that reflect our mission and core values. Our mission is to extend the compassionate ministry of Jesus by improving the health and well-being of our communities and bring good help to those in need, especially people who are poor, dying and underserved. Our values are human dignity, integrity, compassion, stewardship, and service. Each year there are millions of dollars in community benefits. The real value of this contribution lies not in dollars, but in the commitment of the staff members, physicians, volunteers, board members and other community leaders who work on behalf of the organization, the people who bring our mission and values to life.

Social determinants of health (SDOH) are those conditions in the social, economic, and physical environments that affect health and quality of life. SDOH include racial inequity, systemic inequality, cultural bias, access to care, transportation, housing, meeting daily needs, quality of life, ACEs, lack of insurance, cost of healthcare and other related matters. The current state of the local community has been affected by the Social Determinants of Health barriers to care and has led to more cancer diagnosis and less access to care as well as the ability to pay for care. This funding will benefit those focus groups that face these barriers and allow access to quality health care.