Bayhealth identified accessibility as a major priority in its Community Health Needs Assessment.
Bayhealth serves central and southern Delaware. This year’s findings are on par with previous assessments, according to Bayhealth COO Kyle Benoit. The organization performs assessments every three years.
Delaware is fifth in the nation when ranking states by percent of population ages 65 or older. Benoit says it’s important to keep Delaware’s aging population in mind when talking about health care.
“When you have that Medicare-eligible population that continues to grow at a rapid rate, they are the higher utilizers of health services than the younger population,” Benoit said. “So with that, there's this growing demand for services.”
Delawarean’s average age is about 42 years old, compared to the U.S. average of about 39, and the state’s largest demographic are between 45 and 64 years old.
Benoit said Bayhealth is working to serve Delaware by offering fellowships and residencies for med students and offering multiple sites of care, including walk-in clinics and telehealth visits.
“And the idea behind that is, again, they're going through their training, some of them can be four, even up to seven years,” Benoit said. “And it's also… [a] recruitment tool. So if they do their training here, they have a great experience. They're highly skilled. Will they stay?”
The report also identified equitable health care as a work in progress in the Bayhealth system.
Both Kent and Sussex Counties have seen a rise in Latino residents that’s expected to continue. The organization’s data points to a need for linguistic and culturally appropriate services to make health care to these populations more accessible.
Benoit said his team sent out the needs assessment survey in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole to get more insight from their non-English-speaking patients.
“I think what we've seen sometimes with non English speaking patients, if they feel uncomfortable, they don't trust. Because of the language barrier, they may not be forthcoming with information, which could, you know, impact the care and the health of that individual.”
Benoit added Bayhealth has Spanish-speaking staff and other translation services available for folks who need them.
The needs assessment report also said stakeholders in Kent and Sussex Counties should prioritize outreach and education, especially by partnering with trusted community leaders and organizations.
