March 13th, 2019
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Independent Auditor Onsite Audit for DY3
April 1, 2019: DSRIP Year 5 Begins
April 30th, 2019: PPS Year 4 Fourth Quarter Report
(1/1/19- 3/31/19) due from PPS
June 14th, 2019: PPS Remediation of DY4 Fourth Quarter Report
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All Partner Meeting Held on January 23, 2019
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LCHP Partner Recognized
Gender Wellness Center Receives World AIDS Day NY Commissioner's Special Recognition
Bassett Healthcare Network's Gender
Wellness Center staff in Oneonta received special recognition recently from the New York State Department of Health. Center staff received the World AIDS Day NY Commissioner's Special Recognition award at a ceremony honoring individuals and organizations from across the state for their commitment, contribution and response to improve and promote the health and well-being of all New Yorkers.
An estimated 1.1 million Americans are living with HIV, and yet one out of five don't know it. The New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute focuses on empowering young people through education on how to remain HIV-negative and promote positive, healthy and informed choices regarding living a healthy life.
Congratulations to the Gender Wellness Center!
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LCHP Projects Featured
The New York State Department of Health Medicaid Redesign Team recently published
DSRIP Stories of Meaningful Change in Patient Health
. Two of LCHP's projects, Scrubs Club and The Medication Assisted Treatment Program for opioid addiction, were among those highlighted as outstanding.
Click the above link to read about these LCHP programs as well as others around the state that are having a meaningful impact.
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Please Welcome our NEW PARTNERS!
Brad and Noel Feik
3937 State Highway 7
Oneonta, NY 13820
(607) 432-0790
LCHP would like to welcome our newest partner, The Crossroads Inn. Located in Oneonta, the mission of the Crossroads Inn is to provide a safe and sober living environment for people in recovery from addictions or for folks needing housing while they get back on their feet.
Schoharie County Public Transportation
Christine Kraemer, Director
114 Rock Rd.
Cobleskill, NY 12043
(518) 234-0952
Peer Alliance League, Inc.
Kate Hewlett and Amanda Miles
P.O. Box 1183
Oneonta, NY 13820
(607) 372-2710
The Peer Alliance League is a peer-run organization whose mission is
to empower hope and healing in the community to those seeking support through self-directed and person centered care.
Herkimer County Community College
William McDonald
Associate Dean of Academic Affairs
Herkimer Community College
100 Reservoir Rd.
Herkimer, NY 13350
(315) 866-0300 ext. 8240
Schoharie County Office of the Aging
Nancy Dingee
113 Park Place
Ste. 3
Schoharie, NY 12157
(518) 295-2001
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Partner Merger Announced
Two longstanding LCHP partners recently announced their merger.
While retaining its name, The Mohawk Valley Perinatal Network will become part of The Neighborhood Center. In a statement announcing the move, the organizations said they believe their missions and programming will complement and help each grow going forward.
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PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
LCHP partner, Regional Primary Health Care Network (RPCN), recently expanded its Valley Family Health Center in Ilion, Herkimer County. One of five Federally Qualified Health Centers operated by RPCN, Valley Family Health Center opened in 2016 and with the expansion is now a 4,300 square foot full service NYSDOH approved diagnostic and treatment center. Funding for the expansion was provided in part from a $100,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, Inc. and a donation from MVP Healthcare.
The expansion has enabled the center to hire an additional full time medical provider and support staff, and to increase Gastrointestinal (GI) services geared toward patients diagnosed with Hepatitis C and those in need of Medication Assisted Therapy treatments. Additional consult space has allowed the center to hire Behavioral Health staff so that it is now a fully integrated medical/behavioral health center.
Hannah D. Monk, PsyD, RPCN's Director of Behavioral Health and Social Services noted,
"This expansion has created a more therapeutic atmosphere in which patients can access behavioral health services within the comfort of their primary care office."
RPCN accepts all patients regardless of their ability to pay and works with those who are uninsured or under-insured by assisting them with applications for community insurance programs offered through the New York State Marketplace and the RPCN Sliding Fee Discount Program. In addition to its current offerings, going forward, Valley Family Health Center plans to add telehealth services for the treatment of behavioral health and medical specialties such as diabetes.
"I came to this community in 2010 with the goal of introducing community health through the opening of an RPCN federally qualified health center in Utica. I am proud to say that the opening of Valley Family Health Center in Ilion in 2017 and the opportunity to enhance this site will further RPCN's goal to address the medical needs for those without care in the underserved communities of the Mohawk Valley," said RPCH's Chief Medical Director Cynthia Jones, MD.
LCHP congratulates RPCH on this milestone!
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Ribbon cutting at RPCN's Valley Family Health Center.
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Herkimer Performance Hub Update
LCHP welcomes Heidi Camardello as the new Performance Champion of the Herkimer County Hub. Heidi is the VP of Patient Care and Chief Nursing Officer of Little Falls Hospital and has been an active member of the Hub since its inception. Heidi replaces Brenda Maynard, whom we sincerely thank for guiding the initial work of the Hub and lending her leadership skills to LCHP.
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LCHP Partner At Home Care Nurse, Betsy Holway, Highlighted in Home Care Association of New York's Newsletter
The story below was published in Home Care Association of New York State's November newsletter, an issue highlighting National Home Care Month.
Helping Patients with Depression and a Sense of Loss
Bassett Healthcare Network's At Home Care RN, Betsy Holway, recently shared a story showing the importance of home care in meeting not only the medical needs of patients, but also in providing psychosocial supports.
Depression can be a major factor in a patient's health and well being, and Ms. Holway describes her efforts to help a patient open up about the loss of her husband - a cause of emotional hurt that wasn't being heard by the patient's family or friends. "Last year, I had an elderly patient who was on service with our agency for teaching and monitoring for falls and falls prevention," says Ms. Holway, an RN who performs admissions, re-certifications, routine visits and resumption-of-care encounters. "I've always been very in tune with my patients' mental and emotional well being as well as their physical health. This particular patient was able to share that she was still depressed because of her husband's death."
When Ms. Holway asked her patient how long ago he had passed away, "she answered 12 years. I encouraged her to talk and share about her feelings and thoughts surrounding his death," Ms. Holway says.
The patient opened up to explain that none of her friends or family lent an open ear about her husband's death and the depression that it had caused her. "She reported that they would tell her not to cry, and that it would be ok, and time would heal her pain. But no one would talk with her about it after 12 years," says Ms. Holway. "She shared with me how wonderful her marriage had been, what a good husband he was, and how much she missed him. After only about 20 minutes of talking with her, she verbalized that she felt emotionally better than she had in 12 years. It was a rewarding experience."
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LCHP Hosts Third Annual Disparities in Care Workshop
On November 6, LCHP and the Medical Education Department of lead partner Bassett Medical Center hosted their third annual Disparities in Care Workshop. Convening at The Farmers' Museum, this year the workshop focused on Social Determinants of Health. Over 80 individuals attended, including medical and dental practitioners, social workers, school based health professionals, pastors and CBO representatives.
Welcoming guests on behalf of LCHP, Partner Engagement Manager, Lucinda Levene, noted that the success of DSRIP in the region has relied on the combined efforts of health care professionals and CBOS: "
Collaborative is in our name for a reason. In addition to health care providers, we partner with over 90 organizations, including social service agencies and community based organizations, whose business it is to assist patients with issues like housing, employment, transportation and food insecurity. In other words, they address the social determinants of health." She noted
there is a
growing body of evidence indicating that support for social service programs and interventions can improve community health outcomes and reduce healthcare spending, especially among Medicare and Medicaid populations who are often challenged by social determinants of health.
Former Washington Post journalist and author of TEETH: The Story of Beauty, Inequality and the Struggle for Oral Health Care in America, Mary Otto, shared the story of 12 year old Deamonte Driver, a Maryland Medicaid child who died from an untreated dental infection. Ms. Otto highlighted the disparities Americans face in accessing oral healthcare and how significantly these impact patients' overall health and well being.
Robert Whitaker, MD, MPH and Director of Research and Research Education at Columbia Bassett Medical School, presented findings linking Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) to a wide range of physical and mental health issues later in adult life. He highlighted the manner in which causal mechanisms link social inequalities to later health by way of childhood trauma. Children experiencing abuse, neglect and/or household dysfunction have an increased risk of having problems ranging from alcohol abuse and smoking to severe obesity, cancer, stroke, and heart disease, among others.
Patrick O'Hara, MSW, from the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH), shared his experience working with local farmers and focused on the internal and external barriers they face in obtaining adequate health care and mental health treatment. This important, but often overlooked, disparity in care particularly resonated with many attendees who grew up in local farming communities.
Finally, Bassett's Chief Nursing Officer, Donna Anderson, RN, MSN, and Julie Hall, RN, Bassett's Director of Care Management, presented a table-top activity in which patient populations affected by specific social determinants of health were identified and the community resources available to address them were pinpointed.
Dr. James Dalton, Bassett's Director of Medical Education, closed the evening by encouraging attendees to continue to discuss social determinants during clinical encounters and to be mindful of the resources available in our community to address them.
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PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
Established in 2011, GetThere is a program of LCHP partner, the Rural Health Network of South Central NY. The program
seeks to improve transportation access and coordination in South Central New York, with particular regard to the area's rural communities.
The project recently announced findings from its Medicaid Voucher Program which is funded by LCHP and its counterpart PPS in the Southern Tier, Care Compass Network.
The Voucher Program extends beyond the transportation to health care appointments offered by Medicaid and assists Medicaid individuals who have been hospitalized, have a chronic condition, or other high risk health circumstances with ways to access goods and services that are critical to improving their health.
GetThere shared the following data with us, which demonstrate the progress they have made in addressing DSRIP's goal of reducing hospital readmissions.
In addition to the data findings, GetThere also recently released their new website.
www.gettherescny.org
, provides a number of helpful resources, such as area transportation providers, ride-share information, planning documents, and other information pertinent to the community of healthcare professionals, transportation planners and individuals seeking transportation information. The website is described as a "one-stop shop" for transportation information for professionals and residents of ten counties across the southern tier of New York. Transportation information is provided for the following counties: Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego, Schuyler, Stueben, Tioga and Tompkins.
An important feature of the website is an online tool kit for trip planning in the ten county region. Area residents and professionals are able to enter addresses for both starting points and destinations, along with options for individual needs. A list of transportation options and contact information for volunteer providers (when available), as well as private and public transportation options will be generated. Additionally, users are able to access the Medical Answering Services link for Medicaid transportation to set up rides online.
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Schoharie County Kicks off L.E.A.D. Program
Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion Program is First Rural Program of Its Kind
Representatives from the Sheriff's Office, County Mental and Public Health offices, LCHP, and Catholic Charities of Delaware, Otsego and Schoharie County joined local government officials and US Congressman Anthony Delgado to usher in a new approach to law enforcement in Schoharie County. With medical and behavioral health providers, the criminal justice system, and community based organizations all working together, the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion Program (LEAD) allows law enforcement officers to exercise discretion and divert certain low-level offenders from the criminal justice system into coordinated, managed services. The LEAD approach employs harm reduction, health maintenance and criminal justice-related strategies to engage offenders in health and human service interventions which are known to reduce recidivism. Funded by LCHP, the program is the first of its kind to be implemented in a rural area. Retired Albany Police Chief, Brenden Cox, who now works for the LEAD National Support Bureau, praised the Schohaire collaboration. "It doesn't matter if you're big or small," he said. "The problems are the same and there are better ways to address them than through the criminal justice system." Congressman Delgado pledged his support, calling it "incredibly powerful and meaningful work. I'm very proud to be representing a place like this."
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