Olathe Community Health Analysis - Diane Morris



Olathe Community Health Analysis

Amy Higgins and Diane Morris

Washburn University

Olathe Community Health Analysis

Sociodemographics

Beginning with an overview of the community being analyzed seems most appropriate in order to appreciate the healthcare services offered in the community, as well as any gaps in those services that may exist. Olathe, Kansas is considered the second largest community in Johnson County and the fourth largest city in the state. The current population of Olathe is 125, 225 quadrupling since 1950 (City of Olathe website, 2011). More broadly, Johnson County is considered one of the wealthiest counties in the United States. Olathe has a median household income of $70,728 and an average home sale price of $215,083. The poverty rate in Olathe is reported to be 7.4% (City-Data website, 2010). The median age of Olathe’s residents is 30.8 years. According to the 2000 United States census, Olathe’s population consists of the following races: 86% White, 5% Hispanic, 3% Black, 3% Asian, and 3% other (See attached Appendix 1).

Approximately 93% of Olathe’s residents who are older than 25 years of age have at least a high school diploma, with 45% of those possessing a bachelor’s degree or higher education. Olathe’s public school system is nationally recognized and houses 34 elementary schools, nine middle schools and four high schools, with a total enrolled school-age population of 27,999 (Olathe School District website, 2010). Additionally, Olathe is home to the Kansas School for the Deaf and Mid-America Nazarene University.

As with the national trends, the most specific glaring health issue noted in Olathe/Johnson County seems to be related to obesity and overweight status. Data from 2007 indicates 58.3% of the population was reported as obese or overweight. Further broken down, 35.3% were overweight, while 23% were categorized as obese (Johnson County, Kansas Health Department website, 2011). Naturally, this epidemic lends itself to many more potential long-term health consequences such as diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, and stroke to name a few. The effect of obesity on the local health of Olathe’s residents may not be fully evident for years to come.

Existing Healthcare Services

Olathe has a rather robust number of accessible healthcare services. Olathe Medical Center (OMC) is the community’s only hospital. OMC is a not-for-profit, acute-care medical center licensed for 300 beds and treats 44,000 patients annually. OMC’s network of physicians specialize in almost every area of medicine. Several centers of excellence are part of the hospital including OMC’s: Accredited Chest Pain Center, Kansas Cardiovascular Center, Olathe Regional Oncology Center, The Birth Place, and The Kansas Joint Specialty Center (Olathe Health System website, 2011).

Olathe is home to one of two branches of the Johnson County Health Department (JCHD). The JCHD provides health maintenance and immunization clinics for both children and adults. Additionally, they offer services for women’s health and family planning, as well as more specific clinics for tuberculosis, human immune deficiency virus and other sexually transmitted diseases. The JCHD provides affordable, accessible health care, including walk-in services, with fees based on family size and income.

In addition to the JCHD, Olathe has access to one safety net clinic called Health Partnership of Johnson County, which was established in 1992 to meet the charitable healthcare needs of Johnson County. The clinic offers patient centered primary care, women’s health care, dental, and pharmacy services. The Health Partnership Clinic has two locations in Johnson County, one of which is in Olathe. It remains Johnson County’s only provider of free medical and dental services for low-income, uninsured residents ().

Currently, there are two mental healthcare facilities located in Olathe. The larger of the two is the Johnson County Mental Health Center, which offers a wide variety of mental health and substance abuse services. They are part of the Kansas Public Health system and provide services based on ability to pay and act as a safety net for those who cannot access or afford care elsewhere (Johnson County Mental Health website, 2011). The other mental healthcare facility is KVC, Inc., which is a behavioral and mental healthcare facility for children. They offer both inpatient and outpatient child psychiatric services for the care of children in state custody (Welcome to KVC Health Systems website, 2010).

It would appear that Olathe has an abundant number of home health service companies. There are eight different companies offering home health nursing and in-home assistance to the elderly population. One of these agencies is affiliated with the local hospital and the other is a division of the Johnson County Health Department. The remaining agencies are private but all offer services such as: nursing, physical and occupational therapy, wound care, dietary, speech, social work, etc.

Olathe also has several walk-in clinics to address minor urgent health care needs. The local hospital, OMC offers two of these clinics in the community that are both open seven days per week with day and evening hours (Olathe Health System website, 2011). The other two walk-in clinics are offered through local drugstores. One of these is the Minute Clinic, within the CVS drugstore (Minute Clinic website, 2011), and the other is the Take Care Clinic offered through Walgreens (Walgreen’s Take Care Clinic website, 2011). Both of these clinics offer a wide range of services including minor acute health complaints, as well as some preventative care services, such as vaccinations and school and sports physicals. Care is provided by nurse practitioners (NP) to those patients 18 months and older. All four of the above mentioned facilities accept health insurance or private payment.

There are a large number of tertiary care providers located in Olathe who cover nearly every aspect of healthcare. The following is a list of tertiary care services, including the approximate number of providers in each area:

• Cardiovascular 19 physicians

• OB/GYN 5 physicians

• Pediatrics 11 physicians

• Internal Med 13 physicians

• Dermatology 3 physicians

• Orthopedic 11 physicians

• ENT 6 physicians

• GI 9 physicians

• Urology 5 physicians

• Neurology 2 physicians

• Nephrology 5 physicians

• Endocrinology 1 physician

• Pulmonology 5 physicians

• Oncology 5 physicians

Macrosystems

In assessing a community’s macro system, one is able to get a better look at specific factors that affect healthcare. Resources were not available to indicate the number of uninsured individuals in Olathe specifically; however, information from Johnson County’s data from 2006 reveals 9.8% of individuals age 0-64 years are uninsured (Kansas Health Policy Authority website, 2011). According to the Kansas KIDS COUNT data, 10% of Kansas’ children are uninsured, which equates to approximately 72,000 children (KIDS COUNT Data website, 2010).

A further breakdown of those residents with insurances indicates 60.07% of Kansas residents have employment based health insurance, while 12.8% of the population directly purchase his/her own coverage. Additionally, approximately 26.44% of Kansas residents have a government issued health insurance plan (Kansas Health Policy Authority website, 2011).

Gap Analysis

Since Olathe’s community is relatively young and its pediatric populations is quite large, it seems there is an obvious gap in pediatric primary care services, as well as a void in affordable, accessible care for those children without coverage. Although the JCHD and one safety net clinic are physically located in Olathe, they provide services for the entire county, not just children, adults and the elderly in Olathe. This is an overwhelming task for a large region, such as Johnson County. There exists a need for accessible, affordable alternatives for Olathe’s young population that would include primary care, preventative care, and health education. The focus on health education for Olathe’s youth would hopefully decrease the number of preventable health issues discussed in the earlier section of this document.

Our suggestion for addressing this gap is to develop and implement an affordable program, staffed by nurse practitioners, who would travel to schools in Olathe and provide wellness screenings, minor acute care, immunizations, and health education to the students. This program could be sub-contracted through the school district and partially funded by the school district, with local charitable contributions from the community hospital and other area providers. Services would be available to the district’s uninsured/underinsured students and their younger siblings at a very affordable rate. With nurse practitioners traveling to the respective schools within the district, transportation challenges would be avoided and absentee rates for students would be improved. A collaborative effort with the local hospital would be required in order to accommodate needs that may arise for minor laboratory and radiology services. It is our hope that the community hospital would agree to offer a small number of these services free of charge to the students in the community. This would offset more expensive diagnostic procedures for families and show the community that the hospital is vested in its young people and their health, a benefit for both.

Another gap identified in this community analysis is in the area of Endocrinology. Olathe currently has one practicing endocrinologist, which is a potential deficit to the community, considering that greater than half of Olathe’s population is overweight/obese. This healthcare trend creates many newly diagnosed diabetes cases, with only one provider specializing in this area of medicine. Perhaps developing a diabetes education clinic, staffed by nurse practitioners would provide additional support and services to those requiring this care.

Appendix 1

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References

City of Olathe website. (2011).

City-Data website. (2010).

Johnson County Mental Health website. (2011).

Johnson County, Kansas Health Department website. (2011).

KIDS COUNT Data website. (2010).

Kansas Health Policy Authority website. (2011).

Minute Clinic website. (2011).

Olathe Health System website. (2011).

Olathe School District website. (2010).

Walgreen’s Take Care Clinic website. (2011).

Welcome to KVC Health Systems website. (2010).

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