Violence and Mental Health Top List of Health Needs in Milwaukee County

MILWAUKEE (April 24, 2025) – The health system and local public health agency members of the Milwaukee Health Care Partnership (MHCP) – Ascension Wisconsin, Aurora Health Care, Children’s Wisconsin, Froedtert Health, the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and the City of Milwaukee Health Department (MHD) – announce the release of the 2024 Milwaukee County Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) revealing violence, mental health, substance use, chronic disease, and maternal and child health as top health issues.

Every three years, MHCP’s health system members collaboratively fund and design the shared Milwaukee County CHNA. This year, DHHS and MHD also partnered with the health systems, creating a unique and significant opportunity for public and private organizations to support the community through the CHNA.

“We are thrilled to make this alignment and partnership work with our health system and County partners. It allows us to continue to use data to open doors in finding collaborative solutions without over-surveying the community,” said Mike Totoraitis, PhD, Commissioner of Health, MHD. “I look forward to the increased impact this public/private effort will yield for our Milwaukee residents.”

“We welcome the opportunity to hear directly from the community as to how we can best deliver health and human services and collaborate with our many partners,” said Shakita LaGrant-McClain, DHHS Executive Director. “Officially joining this shared process alongside our other MHCP members will help realize our individual and collective visions- together, creating healthy communities.”

The CHNAs serve as the foundation from which hospitals and local health departments develop their respective community health improvement plans and strategies. It is the base from which MHCP builds its shared priorities and is also intended to inform a broader audience about the top health issues facing their communities.

“The findings from the shared CHNA are critical to informing all members’ specific and collective initiatives, investments, and partnerships, with a focus on addressing racial and health equity,” said Scott Turner MHCP Chair, Executive Vice President, Children’s Wisconsin, President and Chief Operating Officer, Children’s Wisconsin Hospitals. “We are grateful to all the community members who took the time to make their voices heard. We have work to do and plan to stay connected and transparent with the community as we make progress.”

The CHNA captures community input from an online survey of more than 6,200 Milwaukee County residents that addressed adult and child health risk factors, health behaviors, and perceptions of pressing community health needs. The assessment also includes findings from in-depth interviews and focus groups with a diverse array of community leaders, as well as a summary of numerous secondary data taken from Health Compass Milwaukee – a dynamic website of the most current health indicators for Milwaukee County.

New to 2024 is a framework of the findings that aims to demonstrate the complex relationship between the community-identified health issues, the factors that drive them, and the resulting health outcomes.

The 2024 CHNA findings elevate similar top health issues as in the previous 2021 assessment, with a continued focus on disparities and equity. Violence, mental health, and substance use again ranked as the highest priorities among survey respondents and key informants. Newly elevated as top health issues were chronic disease and maternal and child health.

“This process and the findings underscore the importance of the MHCP’s cross-sector approach to improve community health,” said Ann Christiansen, Executive Director, MHCP. “MHCP members remain committed to enhancing the availability, accessibility, and acceptability of health care services, but significant community health improvement can only be achieved if we work with others to address the socio-economic, behavioral, and environmental drivers of health.”

The complete 2024 Milwaukee County CHNA report and information about the CHNA purpose, process, and data elements can be found on Health Compass Milwaukee. This year, a digital version of the CHNA is also available on Health Compass Milwaukee. It allows individuals to explore additional data indicators and segmented data, add population or ZIP Code layers, and build visualizations to best serve an individual or organization’s unique data needs.

The public is invited to attend an online CHNA Community Briefing about the findings held:

• May 1, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
• May 6, 9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
• May 14, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
• May 19, 12:00-1:00 p.m.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.