Q4 2019 – Spokane Trends Focus Newsletter – #38

Trends In The News

Gearing Up For The 2020 Decennial United States Census

Meet the Spokane County Complete Count Team

The decennial census, required by the U.S. Constitution, ultimately creates indispensable data at the national, state, county, municipal and sub-municipal levels. According to census.gov, the census attempts to count every person in the U.S. where they “live and sleep.” More than just a simple population count...

City of Spokane Economic Barometer Indicators Website

Sharpen Your Data Bits - Spokane Has New Data to Drill Into

It’s probably safe to assume people who think or perhaps have even said out loud “That’s simply too much data” might not be of the nerdish ilk who enjoy data like it’s a sport. Unlike you, chances are those folks aren’t subscribed to the Spokane Trends newsletter and blog, while most, if not all of us might wonder...

New Interactive: Mapping America’s Rental Housing Crisis

Extremely Low-Income Renter Data For All U.S. Counties

From the start of the housing bubble to now, there is virtually no place left in the U.S. unaffected by housing costs, regardless if you are currently looking to buy or rent. While there are many reasons for this occurring, the mainstream media has perhaps focused more on home buyers than on...

Spokane Renters Severely Burdened Shows Little Improvement

Fundamental to a thriving life is adequate shelter. Fundamental also is our ability to afford that shelter. For several thousand Spokanites, housing may be available but very challenging to pay for. Statistically, these are residents who pay 50% of more of their income on...

Homelessness in Our Community: Slow and Steady Declines

As we gear up for the new year, January brings about another round of the annual point in time count of the homeless population through the nation. Numerous social workers, volunteers, non-profits, and warm hearted people take to the streets on some of the coldest...

Spokane Incomes Soared in 2018, at Four Times U.S. Rate

Spokane has often carried a bit of chip on its shoulder when comparisons to larger metro areas in the Pacific Northwest are made. Our cultural offerings, the types of jobs and our incomes – to name a few aspects – have been viewed as lower than in...

Sara Clements-Sampson

Community Health Investment Manager of Providence/St. Joseph Health for Washington and Montana

Q1) Can you tell us what a community health investment manager does?

A1) Community Health Investment Manager is responsible for conducting a health needs assessment and identifying which of those needs the hospital is positioned to address and find partners to help address those needs. We are required to conduct these needs assessments every three years.

Q2) In that role, what data does your office pay close attention to?

A2) Data is important in identifying the needs of the community. We look at trend data to see where we want to change the trend. We also want to see if our efforts are having an impact on the broader community and if we are seeing the data reflect that impact.

Q3) Has the content of Spokane Trends contributed to your work at Providence/St. Joseph?

A3) YES! We rely on this data to look back on the previous needs assessments and ensure the data is still being collected or what changes were made in the data collection.