The Office of Community Health
Our Mission:
To advance health equity across the Chattanooga community through identifying and addressing the racial disparities of health, economic, and community development, building sustainable health-focused partnerships in our region, and increasing health literacy through community outreach and engagement.
Community health is a broad and vital measure that encompasses physical health, safety, security, mental health, and social connectivity. It interconnects and overlaps with a wide range of policy and programmatic portfolios in the City of Chattanooga, including community development and public safety.
Our Work Under the C.A.R.E Coalition Grant
Below is an overview of the services provided by our department to Chattanooga communities under the C.A.R.E Coalition funding period.
The COVID-19 Action, Response, and Equity (C.A.R.E.) Coalition works to address health disparities, improve health literacy, and coordinate the city's response to COVID-19. Our community health nurse navigators conducted outreach events, vaccination clinics, and awareness campaigns to increase health literacy, build trust, and improve COVID-19 health outcomes within local communities. Notably, the objectives of the C.A.R.E Coalition grant align with U.S. Department’s Health and Human Services Healthy People 2030 goals, which are national objectives for improving health and well-being over the next decade.
Click here to learn more about the funds awarded through the C.A.R.E. Coalition Grant
Where are we serving?
Our Nurse Navigators promote community engagement through outreach in the city’s network of community centers, churches, schools, nonprofits, and medical clinics. This density map shows the concentration and distribution of our current engagement efforts while serving as a valuable tool for identifying gaps in service delivery where future support and outreach may be warranted. The darker color on the map indicates a higher number of engagements.
⬅ Hover your cursor over the map to view the number of engagements within city zip code tabulation areas
What do we do?
Our Nurse Navigators and Community Partners empower health through outreach and engagement with community members, community partners, and community center staff.
Community engagements consist of establishing trust, building relationships, and working with communities to create processes for mobilizing towards change for better health outcomes.
Community Centers
Nurse Navigators provide health services across the city's network of community centers.
⬅ Hover your cursor over each segment of the pie graph to view the corresponding engagements across community centers
Community Partners
Partnerships with community organizations are vital to service within the community. This chart shows the percentage of community engagements our partners have contributed to our services.
➡Hover your cursor over each segment of the pie graph to view the corresponding number of engagements across partners
Who are we reaching?
The data below displays the race, gender, and ethnicity of the community members served by our Nurse Navigators and Community Partners
Expanding Health Education
Our work prioritizes health education, which is the right of every individual to make appropriate health decisions. To increase the understanding of basic health information required for health-related decision-making, our work includes one-on-one health education conversations with licensed nurse navigators, health flyer distributions, health brochure distributions, health fairs, and health classes.
Health Literature 🕮
Expansion of health education involves development of systemic strategies to improve health-related knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors. The distribution of health literature is one of our methods for increasing health education across the city.
Referral Data: Strengthening Community Health Partnerships
Our office has partnered with local providers to offer free behavioral health (otherwise known as mental health) services in the community to ensure everyone has access to the support they need. Recognizing the importance of mental well-being, our nurse navigators are referring individuals across the community to the following behavioral health partners: AIM Center, Clinica Medicos, First Baptist Cares, LifeSpring Community Health, and Scenic City Wellness.
Our nurse navigators extend support to community members by facilitating referrals for additional follow-up services if necessary following clinical consultation. With a dedication to providing comprehensive care, our nurses ensure individuals receive ongoing support by connecting them with trusted community health partners and resources.
Did You Know?
1 in 5 Americans have hearing loss in at least 1 ear 👂🏻👂🏽👂🏿
Our office collaborates with The Speech and Hearing Center to address communication disorders within our community. The Speech and Hearing Center offers important hearing screenings at outreach events. These screenings help identify health risks early, leading to timely interventions, better health, and improvement in quality of life. Here's a look at the number of hearing screenings they've provided during these events.
COVID-19 Data
Hold your cursor over the circles on the map below to view the number of COVID-19 vaccinations received by race.
Take a look at the COVID-19 case data from the Hamilton County Health Department
A Snapshot of Hamilton County Health
Health Outcomes
Health Outcomes, such as low infant birthweight and poor individual health status, represent the health of a county in terms of length of life and quality of life. Take a look at the numbers for Hamilton County compared to the United States average.
Higher than the national average, 14% of adults in Hamilton County reported themselves to be in fair or poor health condition.
Low infant birthweight refers to babies born weighing under 5 pounds, 8 ounces. 10% of the babies born in Hamilton County have low birthweight.
Health Factors
Health Factors are measurable things that we can change to improve both the length of life and quality of life for county residents. This section highlights the most pressing behavioral and economic health factors impacting the Hamilton County population in comparison to the U.S. average.
Medical Insurance
15% of all adults under the age of 65 residing in Hamilton County do not have medical insurance coverage. Among all of the children in Hamilton County who are under the age of 19, 6% are uninsured.
Air Pollution
The air in Hamilton County is measuring an average of 9.1 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) of fine particulate matter each year compared to the 7.4 micrograms per cubic meter annual average for the U.S.
This program is supported by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health/Office of Minority Health (OMH) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $3,404,247.00 with 100 percent funded by OMH/OASH/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor are an endorsement by OMH/OASH/HHS or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit OMH's website.