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Community Service Plan

Using results from the Community Health Needs Assessment, HSS develops a Community Service Plan (CSP) and implements evidence-based community programs centered around promoting well-being and chronic disease prevention and management.

This report is prepared in compliance with NYS Public Health Law 2803-1.

Detailed CSP workplan available upon request. Please email communityed@hss.edu.

Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) has been a recognized leader in musculoskeletal medicine for more than a century. We have established an ongoing commitment to both physical and general wellness, patient care, research, professional education, and community programming. As such, HSS conducted a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) in 2022 to identify significant musculoskeletal health concerns currently facing residents in its primary and secondary service areas and ensure they are directly addressed. These identified needs informed the hospital’s 2022 – 2024 Community Service Plan (CSP), a three-year implementation strategy that supports the New York State (NYS) Prevention Agenda 2019-2024 and satisfies the US Internal Revenue Service and the Affordable Care Act requirements for nonprofit hospitals.

HSS’ primary service area consists of the five boroughs of New York City (NYC) - Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island; while its secondary service area is comprised of suburban areas in the Hudson Valley, New York; Northern and Central New Jersey; Connecticut; Long Island, New York; and Palm Beach County, Florida.

HSS Community Health Needs Assessment was a systematic, data-driven approach to determine the health status, health behaviors and lifestyle, access, and use of healthcare, and educational needs of its community.

HSS adopted a four-pronged approach to assessing the musculoskeletal health needs of our community including the needs of medically underserved and low-income populations.

  • Collect data: Collect and analyze data from community surveys, community partner interviews, and local, state, and federal systems to highlight the community’s health needs
  • Obtain input: Establish a collaborative environment to obtain community input from HSS stakeholders, community partners, and health agencies serving diverse populations
  • Prioritize health needs: Identify and prioritize health needs through community forums
  • Implement action plan: Develop and implement an action plan to address identified health needs and disparities

HSS’ three-year community service plan will focus on two priority areas – preventing chronic disease and promoting well-being and will concentrate on musculoskeletal and rheumatologic conditions, our areas of expertise. To further advance the NYS Health Improvement Plan and align with the state’s priority areas, HSS will implement ten programs. Each intervention will adopt evidence-based strategies/models to improve the musculoskeletal health of HSS’ diverse and aging community. Programs are routinely evaluated to determine impact and areas of improvement.

Please click on each program below for more information.

Chronic Disease Preventive Care and Management

Goal 4.3
Promote evidence-based care to prevent and manage chronic diseases including asthma, arthritis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and prediabetes, and obesity.

Goal 4.4
In the community setting, improve self-management skills for individuals with chronic diseases, including asthma, arthritis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and prediabetes, and obesity.

CSP strategy 1Asian Community Bone Health Initiative

  • Health Needs Addressed: OA, stiffness, fatigue, chronic pain.
  •  A community-based exercise and education program to help Asian older adults better manage their chronic musculoskeletal conditions while also increasing access to care in medically underserved communities.

CSP strategy 2Charla de Lupus/ Lupus Chat®

  • Health Needs Addressed: Lupus
  • A free national peer health education and support program that specifically seeks to reach Latinos/Hispanics and African American communities with lupus to increase overall knowledge of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) including diagnosis, treatment, and self-management skills, with a focus on culturally diverse people with lupus and their loved ones.

CSP strategy 3LANtern® (Lupus Asian Network)

  • Health Needs Addressed: Lupus
  • A free national bilingual peer support and education program dedicated to serving Asian Americans with lupus and their families.

CSP strategy 4Musculoskeletal Health Wellness Initiative

  • Health Needs Addressed: OA, stiffness, fatigue, chronic pain
  • Education and exercise programs that raise awareness, educate and reduce the impact of musculoskeletal conditions in the community.

CSP strategy 5Pain and Stress Management Program

  • Health Needs Addressed: Stress, chronic pain
  • Educational, and mindfulness-based techniques to raise awareness, educate and improve the ability to cope with pain and stress.

CSP strategy 6Inflammatory Arthritis (IA) Support and Education Programs

  • Health Needs Addressed: Lupus, stiffness, fatigue
  • A support and education program to provide disease-specific education and psychosocial support to people with longstanding and newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and gout to enhance disease self-management and coping strategies.

CSP strategy 7Leon Root, MD, Pediatric Outreach Program

  • Health Needs Addressed: Injury prevention
  • A community-based screening and education program to detect and treat sports-related injuries well before they can lead to orthopedic disorders and provide education to reduce the risk of sports-related injuries in young athletes.

CSP strategy 8Youth Sports Safety Program

  • Health Needs Addressed: Injury prevention
  • Injury prevention workshops for children and their parents, coaches, teachers, and sports administrators, as well as free injury prevention screenings to identify injury risk factors among youth sports participants.

CSP strategy 9VOICES 60+ Senior Advocacy Program

  • Health Needs Addressed: OA, stiffness, fatigue
  • An advocacy program to help low-income, culturally diverse (primarily Hispanic) HSS patients 60 years of age and older, with arthritis and related chronic illnesses, with accessing services and support to improve quality of life.

Promote Wellbeing

Goal 1.2
Facilitate supportive environments that promote respect and dignity for people of all ages.

CSP strategy 10Aging with Dignity

  • Health Needs Addressed: Stress, chronic pain
  • Addresses social isolation and teaches coping skills to improve participants’ resiliency and decrease their feelings of stress and loneliness through support groups and creative workshops such as Journaling, Art, and Music.

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For more information, please contact us at communityed@hss.edu.

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