Community Voices Drive Muskingum Health Priorities

ZANESVILLE, OH – The health of a community goes beyond doctor visits and hospitals, it’s about listening to the people who live here.

That’s why the Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department recently completed its Community Health Assessment. This report gathers the most reliable data and firsthand input from residents and leaders to highlight the top health needs in the area. One of the top concerns in the report was access to mental health services, an issue that community members said continues to affect families across the county.

“Mental health access was definitely a top concern, healthcare access, income, and poverty. With the Community Health Assessment, we look at all the needs and then we look at the partners and the potential resources that can be used to address those problems.” Community Health Planner, Michelle Shroyer said.

The findings are now being used to shape a Community Health Improvement Plan. This plan will turn the report’s priorities into action and will officially begin in January of 2026, guiding the county’s health efforts for years to come.

“After the Community Health Assessment is done, the partners gather to start to form the Community Health Improvement Plan. We have our four priority areas, and we also have special projects that we work on. From there, we start creating action steps to meet those priority needs for the next three years.” Shroyer said. “We have four priority’s that’s going into our next Community Health Improvement Plan. The first one is behavioral health, which will encompass mental health and substance use disorder, then there’s educational literacy, healthy behaviors which includes healthy eating and active living, and then housing insecurity.”

For a closer look at the assessment and the next steps in the improvement plan, visit ZMCHD’s website.

Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department | Public Health Services | Community Wellness & Safety