SVMC Community Health Needs Assessment 2021 - Catalog - Page 26
25 | P a g e
Vehicle Access within SVMC’s Service Area14
State
County
Vermont
Bennington County
Windham County
Berkshire County
Washington County
Rensselaer County
Massachusetts
New York
Occupied housing
units with no
vehicles available
8.6%
7.3%
9.4%
7.3%
10.1%
While transportation is an important
factor in determining one’s health,
SVMC does not have the resources
or capacity to unilaterally create
solutions. Instead, SVMC will look to
continue partnerships with local
public transportation providers, and
participate in other pilots and
initiatives as they are conceived and
implemented.
Housing
Another important contributor to health is safe and permanent housing. Housing instability leads to
poor health outcomes through a myriad of mediating factors including stress, anxiety, asthma, other
environmentally related or exacerbated conditions, and delayed access to medical care.15
The term housing instability encompasses:
•
•
•
homelessness, or total lack of shelter
severe lack of affordable housing, characterized by high rental costs and evictions and
poor housing conditions, including homes that are not built to code, are unclean, or are lacking
infrastructure to support basic needs of heating, cooling, or plumbing.15
Survey Responses: Housing Status
n= 1,629
13-34 years
35-64 years
65+ years
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Own residence
Rent residence
Other
(coordinated entry;
homeless; couch surfing)
14
Housing Characteristics: American Community Survey. United States Census Bureau. ACS 5-Year Estimates Data Profiles 2019.
Health Research and Educational Trust. Social Determinants of Health Series: Housing and the Role of Hospitals. American
Hospital Association. August 2017. https://www.aha.org/system/files/hpoe/Reports-HPOE/2017/housing-role-of-hospitals.pdf
15
Southwestern Vermont Medical Center
Community Health Needs Assessment 2021