Affordable housing, behavioral health and access to providers remain among the top issues affecting health across the Fredericksburg area, according to a draft of the 2025 Community Health Assessment (CHA) released Thursday.
The 88-page report, prepared by the Rappahannock Area Health District (RAHD) and Mary Washington Healthcare, outlined health needs and resources in Planning District 16, which includes the City of Fredericksburg and Stafford, Spotsylvania, King George and Caroline counties.
When asked what would improve health most in the community, affordable housing was the top response among community members who participated in a survey.
“Housing costs have increased sharply in the area in recent years, with pricing placing homeownership out of reach for many,” the report notes. “Even affording rent is a challenge for many families based on the data.”
“Our health is not just an individual matter — it is shaped by the entire wellbeing of the community,” RAHD Health Director Dr. Olugbenga Obasanjo said in a press release accompanying the draft report. “To understand health in our community requires not just looking at statistics and health records but talking directly to the community about their experiences. We pride ourselves on completing a robust assessment of health in our area and look forward to working with our partners on key issues identified.”
The RHA takes into account data from three separate assessments.
A Community Context Assessment, or data directly from the community, was collected “through focus groups, community conversations and a community survey.” Small-group discussions featured about 90 participants.
A Community Status Assessment “includes data from secondary sources as well as primary data from MWHC’s Social Determinant of Health (SDOH) screening, conducted with inpatients in the 2024 calendar year.”
Finally, a Community Partner Assessment incorporates survey responses from community partners “assessing local systems and collective capacities to address health inequities in PD16.”
The CHA was last published in 2021-22, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, “we were unable to hold in-person meetings, and we lamented that much of our data would only reflect pre-pandemic trends, not fully capturing the many changes the pandemic brought on not only as a respiratory illness, but as a pandemic with cultural, social, political and economic impacts as well,” the report reads.
The organizations have scheduled two meetings for the community to weigh in on the CHA. From 8:30 to 10 a.m. on March 19 at the John F. Fick Conference Center (1301 Sam Perry Blvd.) and online on March 24 from noon to 1 p.m., residents can learn more about the findings. Registration is recommended for both events.
A finalized report will be published in April, along with an updated Community Health Improvement Plan.
