New London, CT (April 30, 2026) – Lawrence + Memorial (L+M) Hospital has identified behavioral health, chronic disease and prenatal and maternal care as the top health priorities for the New London region following completion of its 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA).
The assessment was conducted in collaboration with the Health Improvement Collaborative of Southeastern Connecticut (HIC) and the Eastern Connecticut Health Collaborative (ECHC), coalitions of community members, health care providers, local public health agencies, tribal representatives, higher education institutions and numerous nonprofit organizations working together to measurably improve the health and wellbeing of residents across the region. Through collaborative data collection and input from key informants and subject matter experts, L+M Hospital completed the 2025 CHNA process. This included development of a hospital Implementation Strategy Plan (ISP) outlining targeted strategies and actions aimed at improving health outcomes across southeastern Connecticut.
Conducted every three years, the CHNA helps the hospital identify the most pressing health concerns in the communities it serves and guides long-term community benefit investments. The 2025 assessment emphasized broad and inclusive participation, engaging community residents and leaders, regional partners and public health experts throughout the process.
“The assessment process gave us critical insight into our community’s evolving health needs, including access to care and the ways social drivers influence health outcomes,” said Richard Lisitano, L+M president. “Just as important, it ensured that community voices were central to shaping our priorities and the strategies the hospital will use to address them.”
The CHNA used a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches, including surveys, interviews and focus groups. More than 20 key informant interviews were conducted with leaders from health care and social service organizations, and 18 focus groups were held in both English and Spanish with support from the HIC and the ECHC.
Community members from across our hospital regions also identified cultural competency as a need during the 2025 CHNA process. This valuable feedback revealed opportunities to improve patient care by expanding language access and cultural sensitivity training and education for staff. In response, Yale New Haven Health selected Culturally Competent Care as a 2025-2028 priority area and will be implementing national standards for
Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) at each of hospital (Bridgeport, Greenwich, L+M, Yale New Haven and Westerly).
“This reflects an intentional response to what we heard from our community. One of our values is being patient-centered and we want to make sure that every patient, regardless of race, ethnicity or language experiences the best care at L+M,” said Lindsey Greene-Upshaw, senior manager and regional lead, Office of Health Equity and Community Impact (OHECI).
The full Community Health Needs Assessment is available on the hospital website
here.
Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, a member of Yale New Haven Health, is a non-profit, 308-bed general and acute care hospital providing patient care to medical, surgical, pediatric, psychiatric and obstetrical patients in southeastern Connecticut and southern Rhode Island since 1912. Lawrence + Memorial offers cardiac acute, step-down and rehabilitation programs and is the only eastern Connecticut hospital that performs emergency and elective angioplasty. www.lmhospital.org
