TCWH Releases Updated 2025-2030 Community Health Assessment
Published on January 22, 2026
Tompkins County Whole Health (TCWH) is pleased to announce the release of the updated Community Health Assessment (CHA), a countywide report that examines the factors that shape health and well-being for people who live and work in Tompkins County.
Guided by Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) 2.0, the national community health improvement framework developed by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the assessment synthesizes local, state and federal surveillance data, a countywide Community Health Survey (conducted in 2025), qualitative research, and extensive community engagement. Together, these data sources examine the conditions that shape health across five domains established by the New York State Prevention Agenda:
- Economic Stability
- Social and Community Context
- Neighborhood and Built Environment
- Health Care Access and Quality
- Education Access and Quality
The Community Health Assessment (CHA) is required to be updated every five years by New York State public health law. The CHA forms the foundation for the 2025-2030 Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP), which will identify shared priorities and strategies that move Tompkins County toward a healthier, more equitable future.
The CHA integrates data across three MAPP 2.0 assessments:
- Community Status Assessment: Examines quantitative indicators drawn from local, state and federal data systems, primarily sourced from the U.S. Census, NYSDOH, and the Community Health Survey as well as other community reports and service utilization data.
- Community Context Assessment: Explores lived experiences through qualitative interviews and local existing reports.
- Community Partner Assessment: Highlights organizational strengths, available resources, and areas where system capacity is strained or unevenly distributed.
Together, these assessments create a multidimensional picture of health in Tompkins County that extends beyond traditional health indicators.
Tompkins County Whole Health Commissioner Jennie Sutcliffe stated, “The collaborative and innovative method of MAPP 2.0 was a huge undertaking by TCWH, but the result was worth the effort. The CHA combines extensive datasets with community feedback, to illustrate a true picture of health in Tompkins County. We envision the findings in the CHA will have a direct impact on identifying effective strategies and interventions that will create lasting, positive health improvement for the community.”
Community Health Assessment Priority Areas and Findings
The Community Health Improvement (CHI Tompkins) steering committee, made up of representatives from local community organizations across health care, human services, education, and community development sectors, reviewed the NYS Prevention Agenda Domains and Priorities and provided recommendations about which areas should be investigated further during the CHA process and review of data. These recommendations were used to structure the CHA and to determine what data from secondary sources would be reviewed and highlighted in the narrative of the CHA. Those selections are outlined below:
- Economic Stability
- Housing Stability and Affordability
- Poverty
- Nutrition Security
- Social and Community Context
- Suicide
- Depression
- Primary Prevention, Substance Misuse, and Overdose Prevention
- Tobacco/ E-cigarette Use
- Neighborhood and Built Environment
- Health Care Access and Quality
- Access to and Use of Prenatal Care (Promote Infant and Maternal Health)
- Preventive Services for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control
- Oral Health Care
- Preventive Services (Healthy Children)
- Education Access and Quality
- Health and Wellness Promoting Schools
The overarching conclusion is that health in Tompkins County is primarily shaped by social and economic conditions. Across all Prevention Agenda domains, the assessment shows an interwoven set of challenges that reflect structural conditions. At the same time, the County demonstrates strong assets of robust academic and health partnerships, a deeply engaged nonprofit sector, expanding behavioral health and crisis response initiatives, and a shared community vision centered on belonging, connection, and equitable opportunity.
Sutcliffe continued, “We encourage community partners and engaged citizens to read through the Community Health Assessment and use it to inform your work, whether that be a need for program development, grant writing, or other organizational purposes, or just for deeper personal understanding about the topics you care most about. Our staff and partners have done the work of pulling all this together; there is a lot of really great information in there to help us work together in shaping a healthier community.”
Next Step: Community Health Improvement Plan
Continued review of the Community Health Assessment by the CHI Tompkins steering committee will take place throughout 2026, to inform the development of goals, objectives, and interventions to be outlined in an updated Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). Further information about the CHA/CHIP can be found online.
TCWH thanks their dedicated community partner organizations for their support and participation in CHI Tompkins process: Tompkins County Youth Services, Tompkins County Office for the Aging, Cayuga Health/Centralus, Civic Ensemble, Community Justice Center, Cornell University MPH Program, Skorton Center at Cornell University, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County (CCE-TC), Human Services Coalition of Tompkins County, Food Bank of the Southern Tier, Tompkins-Cortland Community College, and the YMCA of Tompkins County.
Tompkins County Whole Health: envisioning a future where every person in Tompkins County can achieve wellness. Find us online at: https://www.tompkinscountyny.gov/health and follow us on Facebook, Instagram or X. Sign up to receive Whole Health updates or other county announcements via email or text.
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