Weathering the Storm By Debbie Briggs Ellenville Regional Hospital In mid-March, NYSARH member Ellenville Regional Hospital joined forces with the Ulster County Department of Health and Mental Health to offer drive-through COVID-19 testing on our campus. The County erected two sturdy tents in our driveway. The first tent was utilized for registration – patients would drive into the tent and show us their identification and insurance information, all while keeping their windows closed. We would then attach a test kit to their windshield, and they would drive into the second tent, where the actual testing took place. This process worked great, until an early spring snowstorm collapsed tent #1! The tent was replaced, and testing continued. We then decided to triage all ED patients who were ex...

Responding to the Need By Steve Waterson The Resource Center (TRC) NYSARH Member, The Resource Center (TRC) has been producing reusable personal protective equipment to meet the needs of health care providers and other businesses. Since April, workers have been sewing gowns and cloth masks at TRC’s Jamestown manufacturing facility.  Upon learning of the shortages of personal protective equipment being experienced across the country and particularly in New York State, The Resource Center adjusted its sewing operations to be able to produce reusable PPE. “As the need for PPE across the nation has grown, we began to expand our sewing operation to try and help meet those needs,” said Todd Frangione, Director of Business Operations.  “We are currently supplying the Department of Defense with mi...

Measuring well-being in rural communities Emma Nalin, Project Coordinator Rural Health Network, South Central New York At a recent meeting of the Advisory Committee for Rural Health Network of SCNY’s Social Determinants Measurement Project, we discussed measuring health, well-being, and viability at the community level. What does a rural community need to thrive? What specific indicators can we measure? How useful are existing frameworks in a rural context? These questions feel particularly important as rural communities work to rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic. To get started, here are three examples of measuring community well-being from the fields of economic development, disaster relief, and community nonprofits. The WealthWorks framework sorts community resources into eight types of...

Hard Times for Rural EMS By Melissa Brook, Gouverneur, NY Rescue Squad; Mark Deavers, Gouverneur, NY Rescue Squad; and Ann Smith; NYSARH Member; North Country EMS Agency/Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization; and Lisbon, NY Rescue Squad As the fear of COVID-19 began to race across the country, rural emergency medical services (EMS) braced themselves for a different war, and today, it is now a fight to survive. A lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), skyrocketing operational costs, workforce shortages, and plummeting revenue leave the future of rural EMS on life support. For decades, rural EMS has been overlooked by governments and insurance companies through low reimbursement rates, which are often below the cost of doing business. When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, this ...

Measuring impact during COVID-19 Emma Nalin, Project Coordinator Rural Health Network, South Central New York April 28, 2020 Like many rural community organizations, Rural Health Network of SCNY has rapidly assessed and adapted our services to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. While providing direct service to rural clients in need is our most urgent priority, it is also important to keep measurement in mind at all stages of the planning and implementation process. When the pandemic ends, the data we collect now will be critical in describing our response and building resilience against future crises. Listed below are some examples of RHN’s direct service during the pandemic, along with the plan for measurement: Delivery of food, medication, and other essential goods Measuring the amount a...