Community Commitment

Doctors and caregivers at PeaceHealth live and work in the same community as you. We want to make Longview and Cowlitz County a great place for everyone. For more than 80 years, we've cared for patients across Southwest Washington — with a focus on whole-person well-being.

Two children with umbrellas walking down the steps of the public library

PeaceHealth in Cowlitz County

Fiscal Year 2025: July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025

 

We Reinvest in Community Health

PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center is dedicated to caring for the people of Cowlitz County. As a nonprofit, we use any extra money to improve community health and support our Mission.

A group of women in a well lit room, laugh and smile during a yoga session

We believe that good health, prevention and community well-being are essential. We work with local partners and make investments to provide our communities with hope, care, home and nourishment. Our four priorities for community health inform our priorities for health improvement and collaboration.
 

Food

Housing

Care

Hope

 

Click on an icon above to learn more about each pillar.

Becoming a healthier community means going beyond the walls of our medical center and clinics. Together with partners, we work to improve personal and community health, consistent with our Mission and Values.

Across these pillars is the awareness of our solemn responsibility to those who have been underserved and historically marginalized.

Two volunteers work on a community garden together

Community Health Needs Assessment

Every three years, tax-exempt hospitals like ours conduct community health needs assessments to identify current needs, statistics, activities and plans to improve the community's health and well-being.

Why conduct a Community Health Needs Assessment?

Our Community Health Needs Assessments guide our investments. Conducted every three years in partnership with local communities, these tools help us identify and address community needs and resource gaps. This allows PeaceHealth to maximize our impact and target our investments where they will have the greatest lasting impact.

How are Community Health Needs Assessments conducted?

In the fall of 2024, we conducted an extensive assessment of publicly available data from national, state, and local sources to analyze our community's needs. Community stakeholders from multiple sectors convened to review the data and provide valuable input on the community's collective requirements. 

Key Findings from the 2025 Assessment

Our 2025 assessment echoes national trends and shows that local priorities mirror wider challenges. Highlights include:

  • There is a significant need for all types of housing in Cowlitz County, specifically affordable housing and shelter options for unhoused individuals.
  • Access to resources for food-insecure households continues to be an issue for Cowlitz County residents. Community members ask for improved access to enough healthy foods to feed their families. 
  • The need for support navigating social service resources for low-income community members persists. Expanding community health worker, peer support, and community health advocate programs are critical to improving social drivers of health in Cowlitz County. 
  • Substance use disorder treatment and access to co-occurring behavioral health services have become more apparent as the rate of Fentanyl use has skyrocketed. The mental health needs of our community, especially children, continue to be higher each year. 
  • Resources to address the needs of households living in poverty, specifically Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) community members who experience poverty at a higher rate than other community members, are needed. 
  • Community members are experiencing social isolation due to decreased levels of community connection, volunteer workforce shortages and other issues. Seniors who live alone without family support are most impacted. 
Community Health Improvement Plans

Our vision at PeaceHealth is that our communities and everyone within them live their best lives. This means targeting efforts to advance health justice, equity, access, care, and community impact. We are committed to strong community-built plans that measure progress and evaluate our impact towards those results.

Meet our leadership team

  • Kendall Sawa, RN, Chief Hospital Executive
  • Wendy Dennis, RN, MSN, VP of Patient Care Services/Chief Nursing Officer
  • Nandita Gupta, MD (no title provided on hospital leadership webpage)
  • Elva Sipin, RCP, Chief Operating Officer