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 A message from Lenore Boris, Board President
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Lenore Boris, Board President
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Speaking on behalf of the Board of Directors, I have been impressed by Rural Health Network's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The speed of making changes; flexibility and innovation; the thoroughness of preparations and changes while ensuring the safety of staff and the safety of clients; and coordination between the agency programs to redeploy resources are all commendable.
Above all, I am impressed with the staff dedication and commitment to the mission of the Rural Health Network - working and providing services during these challenging times. The current situation was thrust upon us unexpectedly. I'm proud of how you have all adapted to the situation and continue to do the important work you do.
While we long for a return to "normal", we should not expect the "normal" to look the same when New York is taken off pause and the restrictions are lifted. We need to think about how the innovations brought forth during these times can be integrated into the full range of workflows to more effectively, efficiently and comprehensively provide services and improve benefits and the satisfaction of the people served.
Thank you for your efforts in ensuring our services remain active and relevant.
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Kara FIsher
Mobility & Transportation Advocate
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The Getthere Call Center is typically a bustling place. Stop in on any day of the week and you'd normally find Mobility and Transportation Advocates managing cases, sending faxes, processing referrals, and debating which breakfast food is the best. However, that looks much different now that we have transitioned to working remotely.
The work that Getthere does is collaborative in nature and requires frequent communication to discuss options and ideas for meeting the transportation needs of those we serve. Our weekly case review meeting is now a Zoom meeting and a walk to a supervisor's desk has now become a phone call or quick Google Hangout chat.
While our location may have changed, our mission has stayed the same. As the world continued to change rapidly so did the needs of those we serve. Getthere quickly adapted to these changes by expanding Connection to Care funds to include delivery of food and prescriptions. My colleagues and I worked to gather resources to ensure we had the most accurate information to implement this change. For example, individuals who typically have a friend or family member take them to the store are reaching out to Getthere for assistance because that person does not feel comfortable going out. We are able to coordinate with grocery stores, pharmacies, and food pantries to have essential items delivered. This includes continuing our work with local Offices for Aging as well as other community organizations to be as efficient as possible in our service delivery.
Getthere is committed to stepping up through this challenging time to continue to support rural people and communities.
Our Getthere Call Center remains in operation from 7 AM - 7 PM Monday-Friday. Anyone in Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Otsego, or Tioga County can contact us for information and assistance related to transportation needs.
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Rural Health Service Corps
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Mitchell Brooks, AmeriCorps Member
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Like many organizations across the country, my host site has been forced to make significant changes in daily operation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Luckily, many of the services that the
Southern Tier AIDS Program offers, including the syringe exchange, have been deemed essential services under New York State law, allowing these services to continue, albeit with substantial changes. Currently, the syringe exchange is only open to participants two days each week. On these days, participants must call in orders and pick up their packaged supplies to minimize potential exposure.
Additionally, STAP offers delivery services across the eight counties that we serve during days when the exchange is not open. While our strategy is to limit risk of exposure to protect the health and safety of our participants, my coworkers and I continue to do what we can to connect with them. Several programs in the agency are offering Zoom-based client meetings and expanded telehealth services.
As an AmeriCorps Service Member, I'm fortunate to be in a role where I can continue to help my community during this crisis. I continue to work in our office and mobile syringe exchanges to provide safe injection supplies, Naloxone, and hygiene products to participants. In addition to my work at STAP, I have been able to spend some time at CHOW preparing emergency food boxes. These boxes, which contain a few days worth of nutritious meals, have been distributed to people in need throughout our community.
This remains an incredibly challenging time. Even so, I am forever grateful for my remarkably supportive coworkers and for being given the opportunity to serve my community!
If you or someone you know is interested in serving as an AmeriCorps member, view open positions at
our website. For questions, contact us by email:
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Nicole Kaczmarczyk (center, back row) and other members of our
Farm to School team
at a NY Thursday event last fall.
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My goal as a Farm to School AmeriCorps member at the Rural Health Network is to strengthen connections between schools and local food through education, taste tests, and promoting NY Thursday school meals that highlight NY products. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our work within school districts has unfortunately been put on hold. It was uncertain if the role these activities played in benefiting the students could continue, but our Farm to School team has found innovative ways to adjust and continue to support our local schools and the community.
I have begun filling new roles to support our community such as volunteering at CHOW to help pack emergency food boxes, registering families for food distribution sites with the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, helping compile resources for community members to receive food, and educating myself on the various ways communities across the nation are fighting this pandemic.
In addition to this, we have been able to bring Farm to School home for students by posting recipes on our social media platforms, donating grow kits to school lunch distribution sites, and sharing other Farm to School activities and educational resources for students to enjoy from home. Everyday the COVID-19 pandemic presents us with new challenges and it has been inspiring to see partner organizations come together to provide continued support to our community in a time of uncertainty.
Please connect with the FaHN team by email.
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The Northern Broome CARES Program remains open and operational from our office at the Northern Broome Senior Center in Whitney Point. While we are not able to see individuals face-to-face, we continue to work with clients via telephone for case management, telephone reassurance and (remote) social engagement. We are also sending cards, and doing pick-up and delivery of essential food and pharmacy items!
We are working with The United Way of Broome County to distribute toilet paper to clients who may need it, as well as assisting the Broome County Office for Aging Meals on Wheels Program. Mindy Alexander, Community Health Worker, has been delivering meals three days a week to 11 households (almost 1/3 of the Meals on Wheels clients in Northern Broome). In addition, we have supported our clients by making deliveries: everything from bread and milk, toilet paper, tea bags and honey to a couple who were both sick, to picking up mail for an older gentleman who was unable to get to the post office to get his mail.
Our Nurse Navigator continues to assist clients with medication reconciliations and medication safety. She is also available if individuals have questions or concerns about health related issues.
Our services are available to anyone age 60+ who resides in the towns of Lisle or Triangle (including the Village of Whitney Point). Please feel free to contact us at (607) 352-4681 or by email:
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Community Health Services Update
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Community Health Workers in Broome, Tioga and Delaware Counties are all working remotely focusing on the needs of those enrolled in Medicaid and Medicare programs. During weekly health and well being check in phone calls with existing clients, they can assess social determinant of health needs, screen for behavioral health concerns and offer chronic disease management interventions.
They are diligently tracking our primary care partners' changing services and encouraging patients to engage in telephonic/video appointments, remote monitoring, provider patient portals and other virtual chronic disease management tools. Cohort Management Program Lead, Geroulds Healthcare Center Community Cares Health Solutions, offers Medicaid Members with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) a Tapcloud iPhone app to connect with patients in real time. For individuals with chronic upper respiratory challenges the threat of COVID-19 is real. Increased stress and anxiety can worsen their breathing function. Being able to communicate with their Respiratory Therapist remotely as neeed is very reassuring. Rose Peguero, Community Health Worker assigned to these same clients in Broome and Tioga Counties shares community resources to ensure access to basic needs during this state of emergency. The need for food and transportation can change daily. She supports the community by keeping up to date on emerging needs, partnerships, and agency responses to getting goods and services to people in unique and safe ways.
Community Health Workers are a non clinical support for identifying COVID-19 symptoms, educating people on when and how to get tested if needed. They are knowledgeable of resources for individuals and families across the lifespan attempting to stay healthy and safe during this pandemic.
Community Health Workers remain available to assist you or your family members with support and information about health and updated community resources.
Contact our team:
Broome County:
Tioga County:
Delaware County:
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Resiliency in Regional Food Collaborations
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As schools and businesses closed down in our region (and across NY State!) in preparation for the COVID-19 pandemic, fears and anxieties about accessing customers trickled in from our farm partners. If you are unfamiliar, our Farm to School Program at RHN works to connect farmers with wholesale markets, like public schools! That work focuses on the details necessary for local farms and schools to work together and purchase cooperatively, as well as education and resource-sharing about our food system with food service staff, teachers, students, and community members.
While our Farm to School Coordinator and Food and Health Network Director continued to check in with our partners in the region, it quickly became obvious that many needs were shared across counties, and our efforts would be most efficient if we worked together. With the help of a company, ripe.io Community, that works to build more transparency in our food system through online platforms, capacity became a reality! Partners in the Catskills region, including Delaware County Chamber of Commerce, Pure Catskills, Center for Agriculture Entrepreneurship and Development (CADE), Watershed Ag Council, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Delaware County, and the Food and Health Network, worked together to launch the first version of a
Food and Farm Business Directory!
This directory is meant to serve both businesses and consumers in an immense time of need, and like most regional efforts, will only continue to build resilience in our communities as we emphasize collaboration. We hope our stories of coming together inspire you in this difficult time, as they continue to inspire us.
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In addition to helping partners with food resource information, Jess has been driving one of our Getthere Transportation to Employment vans to help deliver food to vulnerable households unable to get to a community food distribution site.
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USDA COVID-19 Federal Rural Resource Guide
This guide
has links to technical assistance & training, financial assistance, and general resources organized by audience.
Making Cloth Face Masks
New York State has now indicated that everyone interacting in public should be wearing a face mask effective today. If you don't already have a mask, here is
guidance from the CDC
on wearing, caring for, and making cloth masks.
Care Compass Network COVID-19 Portal
Care Compass Network has shared resources and information in
this portal
. They also maintain an up to date list of
grant opportunities
by topic area.
Leatherstocking Collaborative Health Partners COVID-19 Resources
Leatherstocking Collaborative Health Partners have also collected
resources
you may find helpful.
VINES Farm Share Sign-Up Available Now
Rural Health Network is pleased to be a farm-share pick-up site again this year. See all the pick-up sites, farms, and available share sizes
here
and
sign up
.
National Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet Day
Our Friends at
Tioga County ASAP
remind us that the third Friday in April (today!) is National Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet Day. If necessary, package unused medications for safe disposal later when you can get out and about.
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To support our work at Rural Health Network,
please visit our
donation page.
Please take a moment to learn more
about our work and the impact we're making in south central New York.
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Advancing the health and well-being of rural people and communities.
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