Community Survey

In February of 2024, the Friends of the Health Deparment of Northwest Michigan funded EMC Rearch to conduct a blind, un-biased survey of community members from four of the counties supported by the Health Department of Northwest Michigan.

Summary:

  • Seventy percent of residents in Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet and Otsego counties have a favorable opinion of the Health Department of Northwest Michigan. The number includes 30 percent who have a strongly favorable opinion.

  • The positive results come from a public opinion survey conducted from January 28 through February 1 by an independent public opinion and market research firm.  “A 70 percent favorable rating is very impressive in today’s world,” said Charlie MacInnis, president of Friends of HDNW, a non-profit group based in Harbor Springs which funded the survey.

  • Not only do residents have a favorable opinion of the Health Department overall, they view it as an important part of the community. When asked whether they agree or disagree that the department provides important services for the community, 86 percent said they strongly or somewhat agree with the statement.

  • The survey of 400 adults in the four counties also found that the Health Department of Northwest Michigan is viewed as a trustworthy agency.  Seventy percent of surveyed residents said they agree that they can trust the agency, with more than one-third, 35 percent, indicating that they strongly agree that the Health Department is an agency they can trust.

  • In addition to favorable opinions and high trust ratings, job performance ratings for the Health Department staff were also positive. When asked to rate the overall job performance of the Health Department, two-thirds of northwest Michigan residents gave a positive rating. The overall quality of the staff was rated positively by 71 percent of those surveyed; the overall quality of the services provided was given a positive rating by 67 percent; and the overall quality of the clinics was rated positively by 66 percent of residents.

  • Providing vaccines and immunizations for people of all ages is a service that was rated positively by 64 percent of residents.

  • The agency’s communication with the public received the lowest rating with only 49 percent rating its communication with the community excellent or good.  However, 81 percent of residents indicated they are at least somewhat familiar with the Health Department.  “Our non-profit group is prepared to provide assistance where needed to ensure maximum public awareness, acceptance and use of the Health Department’s vital services in our community,” said MacInnis.

  • The eight-member Board of Health, the agency’s governing body, received a positive rating of 52 percent.

  • Sixty percent of residents said that they rarely or never utilize its services.  When asked the main reason for not utilizing the Health Department’s services, the primary reasons provided were that they believe they do not need the agency’s services or are unaware of the services offered.

  • A narrow majority, 56 percent, gave the Health Department a positive rating for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The most positive ratings came from two groups.  Sixty-two percent of senior citizen respondents, and 65 percent of higher income respondents rated the agency’s response good or excellent.

  • The Health Department was considered a reliable and trustworthy source of information on things like masking and vaccinations during the pandemic by 64 percent of those surveyed.  Women and high-income respondents gave even higher scores, at 67 and 72 percent respectively.

  • Friends of HDNW is an independent non-profit group created by community members last year in response to controversies surrounding the agency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.  To ensure maximum independence, the survey was conducted without the involvement of Health Department staff or members of the Board of Health.  The non-profit employed EMC Research, a national public opinion and market research firm to conduct the survey.

  • The multi-modal survey included live telephone interviews and email/text invitations to complete the survey online. Telephone interviews via landline and mobile phones were conducted by professional interviewers. Survey respondents were demographically and geographically representative of residents in northwest Michigan. The overall margin of error for the poll is ±4.9 percentage points.

Survey was funded by the Friends of the Health Department of Northwest Michigan, not by the Health Department of Norwest Michigan. In no way were survey questions skewed to favor the HDNW nor was its funding source disclosed.