Community Assessment & Planning

Wilkin County Public Health belongs to a community health board called Partnership4Health. A community health board is in charge of identifying and implementing activities related to local public health priorities. Wilkin County staff participate with many community partners to address health issues that are important to county residents.

Partnership4Health Community Health Assessment (CHA) 2018-2024

At least every five years, Partnership4Health conducts a Community Health Assessment (CHA) to learn more about the health of our community. Local stakeholders such as hospitals, clinics, county administrators, commissioners, community organizations, and community members are invited to engage in this process as a collaborative effort. Several data sources are utilized to develop the CHA, including community surveys developed with healthcare systems, data obtained from stakeholder meetings, data from the MN student surveys, data obtained from the MN Department of Health, and the CDC, etc. Partnership4Health facilitates an evidence-based process to identify priority health issues in our communities based on the analysis of data obtained through the CHA process; this analysis is then used to inform priority action steps for the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP).

Partnership4Health Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) 2020-2024

The 2020-2024 P4H-CHB CHIP systematically addresses priority issues identified during the 2018-2019 Community Health Assessment (CHA). Analysis of health, social, and economic data as well as community input led to the identification of the top health priorities: Mental Well-Being and Dental Access. The CHIP details objectives, strategies, and action steps for public health and community partner actions aimed at these priority areas.

SHIP - Statewide Health Improvement Program

SHIP is Minnesota's Statewide Health Improvement Program.

SHIP is an important part of Minnesota's Health Reform initiative.
The goal of SHIP is to help Minnesotan's live longer, better healthier lives by reducing the burden of chronic disease.
SHIP's focus is to reduce obesity and tobacco use and exposure throughout Minnesota.

What is different about SHIP?

Instead of taking a more traditional, individual and programmatic approach to improving health, we engage in a comprehensive effort to simultaneously improve the health care system and improve the health of the environment. SHIP plays an important role by focusing on policy, systems and environmental changes to make truly sustainable, lasting changes in the state's obesity and tobacco crisis.
SHIP focuses on improving the policies, systems and environments in which we live, work, learn and play so that it is easy to be healthy and so that the next generation can be healthier.
By concentrating on policy, systems and environmental changes, SHIP aims to transform prevention strategies.
SHIP aims to systemize prevention, therefore making it sustainable.

PartnerSHIP4Health Website

Data/Epidemiology Infrastructure Project

The Minnesota Public Health system, along with the rest of the nation, has been working on a new framework of needed skills and abilities (known as foundational capabilities) that every public health agency should be able to offer to their constituents. This framework includes 9 foundational capabilities, including data and epidemiology (see the image below). The Partnership4Health Community Health Board (comprised of Becker, Clay, Otter Tail, and Wilkin counties) was awarded a grant in May 2022 from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to strengthen and create a public health system for the 21st century using this framework. Our project area is specifically looking at increasing our public health departments’ capability around data and epidemiology. These innovative projects will be used to explore ways to pilot this framework, as a statewide effort to modernize our public health system. Partnership4Health was one of only 16 grants awarded across the state!

Partnership4Health Infrastructure project

Increase capacity in data and epidemiology across jurisdictions while building data-sharing and disease reporting relationships across state borders.

Partnership4Health will build its capacity in data and epidemiology through a shared staff position across four health departments within the jurisdiction. This role will collaborate to support community health board and county needs, and will allow for active data review and necessary surveillance. In addition, a key component to this role will be building ongoing relationships with North Dakota partners on ways to improve data sharing and disease reporting. This approach will help Minnesota explore the right fit for coordination between partners at the state, regional, and local level, and will generate insights about cross-border relationships and coordination. Partnership4Health includes Becker, Clay, Otter Tail, and Wilkin counties

For more information and to read about other awarded projects, visit This Website

Public Health Data Resources

County Health Rankings