Following up on a community survey conducted last year, work is now underway on a refreshed
Community Health Improvement Plan for Kenosha County, Health Officer Ricky Ferrari Traner
announced today.
The Kenosha County Thrive initiative is a community-guided effort to assess the health needs of
the county, led by Kenosha County Public Health and supported by Aurora Healthcare and
Froedtert South.
The updated plan, mandated by the State of Wisconsin, will update the most recent Community
Health Improvement Plan, which was completed in 2023.
Unlike previous plans, which were updated every three years, Ferrari Traner said the new plan is
intended to be a five-year document to allow stakeholders more time to make greater progress in
implementing measures to address the priority areas for improvement.
“Our objective is for it to be a living document that may be changed as needed as community
needs and concerns evolve,” Ferrari Traner said. “This plan belongs to the community and will
continue to be informed by the feedback we hear from community stakeholders and the public at
large.”
The 2023 Thrive plan identified three priority areas for improvement:
◼ Enhancing access to affordable health care
◼ Improving access to affordable and safe housing
◼ Mental health and substance use
Those areas remained among the primary concerns cited by the 500-plus respondents to the
Community Health Assessment survey that was conducted last year. The full survey report and
other related materials are available on the Kenosha County Thrive webpage, at
https://www.kenoshacountywi.gov/Thrive.