Health Resource Capacity Assessment for Putnam, Connecticut, May 2001

Executive Summary

Putnam is a tightly knit, rural community of 9,002 residents in Connecticut's Northeast corner. Residents are strongly committed to their town and health care institutions are responsive to the community's needs. Day Kimball Hospital is the dominant health care provider as well as a major employer in town. The hospital enjoys considerable community support and is fiscally stable. However, Putnam faces some serious challenges. Student performance is lower than the rest of the state, median income is low, and unemployment is consistently higher than the rest of the state.

This paper describes a health care capacity and resource assessment for Putnam. The study included focus groups, interviews, surveys of parents and childcare providers, collection of health indicator data and public input. A workgroup of community representatives was convened to guide the project and prioritize recommendations. The group includes local and state elected officials, health care providers, school representatives, social service providers, Day Kimball management and staff, and Putnam residents.

Putnam residents face several critical challenges to their health. Parents are under considerable stress and find it increasingly difficult to meet their families' needs. The number of uninsured and underinsured residents is a serious problem, for both health and economic reasons. Many residents do not access appropriate preventive care due to lack of coverage. Access to primary care for adults is difficult; there is a shortage of providers in the region. Transportation is a significant barrier to health care, particularly for seniors. There is a critical shortage of mental health and substance abuse treatment resources leading to extended stays for troubled youth in inappropriate settings. Teen pregnancy rates have historically been a problem in Putnam. Rates of asthma are extremely high; causing the deaths of two young people in the last six months. Smoking rates are high, particularly among children. Many residents identified childhood obesity as a problem. Lyme disease rates are among the highest in the state. Access to dental care has been extremely limited, but the advent of a dental van in the region within the year should ease the problem.

The workgroup ranked twenty recommendations collected from the community and research. The most pressing were:

1. expand access to health care
2. improve access to mental health services and substance abuse treatment
3. increase access to transportation
4. expand access to affordable, comprehensive health insurance, and
5. more structured activities for teens.

The workgroup agreed that one important intervention to address many of these goals would be to create a community center for Putnam. There was significant support for the community center across Putnam; it was suggested as a solution in focus groups, interviews, and surveys. The center could offer recreational resources, opportunities to socialize across generations, health care services, as well as information on community resources and assistance in applying for and accessing those resources.

The workgroup has agreed to continue meeting to implement the recommendations, enhance communication across fields and resource sharing.