County releases draft community health needs assessment for public feedback
Frederick County on Monday released a draft of its 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment — which illustrates the county's demographics and current picture of health — for public feedback to incorporate into the final version to be released in May.
The draft can be accessed on the Frederick County Health Department's website at health.frederickcountymd.gov/CHNA2025. Community members can submit comments online at www.surveymonkey.com/r/FC2025CHNA until April 4.
The health department releases a Community Health Needs Assessment every three years, and each assessment focuses on different, updated priorities.
The 2025 assessment's priorities are:
* Lack of access to affordable healthy food
* Inadequate affordable housing supply
* Lack of awareness of accessibility of mental health resources
* Stigma around mental health
* Institutional and systemic racism
The previous Community Health Needs Assessment, which came out in 2022, focused on mental health, adverse childhood experiences and type 2 diabetes.
This assessment is part of the Local Health Improvement Process, a collaboration between the county health department, Frederick Health and the Coalition for a Healthier Frederick County.
After the assessment comes out, a Local Health Improvement Plan outlining how to address these priorities and the county's health status through policies, programs and other initiatives is created.
The assessment is more than 80 pages and includes a community profile of the county, takeaways from focus groups, and data on health factors and outcomes including quality of life, health behaviors, socio-economic factors, and clinical care.
The draft said the picture of Frederick County's health 'is consistent with previous reports, as well as with other health assessments' and that the county's health is often better than the state's overall.
However, chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease are still the leading causes of death and impact significantly more people compared to the other nine causes of death in the assessment.
Social and environmental issues like trying to get affordable housing and food are also top concerns for residents.
Rissah Watkins, the director for the county health department's Office of Planning, Assessment and Communication, writes the assessment.
Frederick County is still one of the fastest growing counties in the state, and its population continues to diversify and age.
Watkins said the ways the county has vastly changed in the last 25 years stood out to her, particularly how its diversity has increased.
The population increased from about 271,000 in 2020 to about 293,000 in 2023.
That trend continued from 2023 to 2024 — the county's population increased by over 5,000 people, to about 299,000.
In 2023, 67.6% of the population was white, 12.1% was Black, 11.9% was Hispanic or Latino, and 6.3% was Asian.
Between 2000 and 2023, all racial and ethnic populations have grown in the county — notably, the Hispanic or Latino population grew by 730%.
Frederick County population changes, 2000-2023
The draft assessment said residents were more likely to experience barriers to accessing health care in 2024 compared to 2021, which was covered in the previous Community Health Needs Assessment.
More than half of residents last year — 52% — experienced barriers, such as long appointment wait times, clinics not accepting new patients and inconvenient appointment times, according to a 2024 community survey sent out as part of creating the assessment.
Last year, residents also were more likely to have experienced discrimination in a medical setting compared to 2021.
As part of creating this assessment, a steering committee hosted several focus groups for:
* LGBTQ+ residents
* People who feel lonely or isolated and make less than $75,000
* Parents or guardians who are worried about having a steady place to live
* Hispanic or Latino residents ages 30 or younger
* Black or African American residents
The draft assessment said 'there are concerns that Frederick has expanded beyond its capabilities.'
Members of the focus group for parents and guardians said the cost of living and barriers to resources are significant stressors.
One individual said they 'had been looking for free or affordable legal services, but then I got rejected because [of] a lot of restrictions that I didn't fall into.'
LGBTQ+ residents also said overcrowding was an obstacle, as it limits access to health care, housing and community resources.
Black and African American residents urged the county to promote anti-racism in schools. People also reported traveling outside of the county to find health care providers who share their identity.
Young Hispanic residents said a lack of free and accessible translation services in health care and education settings is a major challenge for their community.
Watkins said that the changes in the county's demographics 'really were echoed in our focus groups,' and while people appreciated the community's diversity, they felt the impact of the rapid growth.
She also said the county saw indicators of the loneliness epidemic, something that's been covered by national news outlets, in the county's residents.
Compared to the 2022 assessment, feelings of loneliness and isolation were more prevalent in this assessment.
The assessment said that 12% of respondents in the 2024 community survey reported they often or always feel lonely.
Additionally, 32% talk to people they feel close to less than three times a week.
The 2021 community survey that helped create the 2022 assessment found that 11% of respondents often or always felt lonely.
Additionally, 23% reported talking to people they care about less than three times a week.
'Many people in our community are feeling a need for more social connection, and the loneliness and isolation that some felt during the pandemic has not really gone away,' Watkins said.
She also said residents expressed more concern in 2024 than in 2021 about affording basic necessities and food.
This could possibly be caused by residents not having additional support, such as stimulus checks, to assist them, something that was in effect in 2021 as the world was still grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The county's life expectancy is higher and steadier than the state's, and white residents continue to have a higher life expectancy than Black residents.
Out of white men and women and Black men and women, Black men had the lowest life expectancy in the county.
Frederick County life expectancy by race and sex, 2016-2022
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