Mayo Clinic Health System in Springfield

 by Scott Thoreson,

Mayo Clinic Health System

in Springfield administrator

Welcome to 2016! It has been an interesting winter. First, it was abnormally warm — the warmest December since 1913 — and then we finally received some snow on Christmas Day. While weather is always a topic of interest, so is health. And you can certainly take measures to improve your well-being, which, unfortunately, is not the case with the weather. I encourage you to make 2016 a year for personal good health.

Community engagement

Mayo Clinic Health System in Springfield, along with the Springfield Community Wellness Team, has been instrumental in organizing the fourth annual Winter Wellness Challenge taking place in January. Nineteen businesses and organizations have more than 150 people participating — the most in event history — in this month-long, calendar-based event that encourages physical activity, healthy eating and other actions to positively impact health.

Every three years, nonprofit medical centers are required to complete a Community Health Needs Assessment. During 2016, we will be performing a survey of our service area to determine the greatest health care needs. When we last conducted this survey, we had three main areas of targeted improvement:

1. Improving access to health care providers and patient comfort

2. Addressing chronic conditions, such as diabetes and obesity

3. Staying connected and being visibly present in the community

The complete story can be found in this week's Springfield Advance-Press.