In this episode of the PHA (Peer Health Alliance) Podcast we discuss some great stigma-free resources right here in the Hudson Valley. Whether you are a member of the LGBTQ+ community or want to support someone who is. The team talks about a few of the great social, support and medical resources you can access without having to trek down to NYC! Save the tolls, give a listen and learn how to be more connected to the things you need right here in our community!
New Podcast Episode: Community Resources and Stigma-Free Safe Zones
March 4th, 2020HVCS’ Response to the Coronavirus
March 3rd, 2020HVCS management and our entire staff are concerned about the novel Coronavirus and the risk to our clients. According to Dr. Angela Hulse, Medical Director at Cornerstone Family Healthcare (our future merger partner):
“The CDC has stated that people currently at risk for the virus are those that have traveled abroad, and those who have a fever and a cough. Individuals who are healthy [for 14 consecutive] days (the incubation period) post exposure are deemed uninfected. Those most at risk for serious complications from the virus are those who are immunocompromised, the very young and the elderly, and those with chronic medical conditions, including HIV.
Handwashing is the best method to prevent transmission of the virus. Soap and water are preferable to Purell or other hand sanitizers.
If you have a cough or a fever, DO NOT go to work, and you should call your doctor. Stay home, rest and call your doctor if you have fever and a cough.
Unless there is a change in the direction we get from the CDC, go about your regular lives, wash your hands, and stay home if you get sick.”
NY State’s governor and the mayor of NYC issued a joint statement which you can read here and which confirms the information above:
11:13 a.m., March 2, 2020
N.Y. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo wants 1,000 tests per day, encourages people to go about their lives
The morning after New York health officials announced the first confirmed case of coronavirus in the state, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio sat down next to health experts and delivered a very clear message to the people of New York: “Go about your lives.”
“I get the emotion, I understand it,” Cuomo (D) said. “I’m a native born New Yorker. We live with anxiety, but the facts don’t back it up here.
“There is no doubt that there will be more cases where we find people who test positive,” Cuomo told reporters at the news conference. “This is New York. We’re the gateway to the world — of course we’re going to have it here.”
Cuomo emphasized that the symptoms are like a cold or the flu and, for most people, they treat themselves and it resolves. Both Cuomo and de Blasio (D) encouraged [healthy] people to go to work, use public transit and to not worry about contracting the illness, which they fully expect to spread through the community.
De Blasio urged New Yorkers to take health precautions, such as “covering your mouth when you sneeze … washing your hands frequently.” And he encouraged people to go to a doctor or health-care facility right away if they think they might have the coronavirus.
The 39-year-old woman who tested positive in New York is a health-care worker who arrived on a flight from Iran on Tuesday night, Cuomo said. “Our best info is she was not contagious” when she was on the flight or in the car on the way home, he said, but officials are contacting other passengers from the flight and the driver of her car “out of an abundance of caution.”
Cuomo said they are working under the assumption that her husband is positive, too. Both the woman and her husband are staying at home because their symptoms are not severe.
Cuomo said that their main challenge is testing as many people as possible, so they know who has been exposed and they can work to contain the spread. Given that, “we are mobilizing with private labs around the state,” he said. “I’d like to have a goal of 1,000 tests per day capacity within a week, because the more testing the better.”
The NYS Department of Health has set up an informational web page at: https://health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/coronavirus/
New Podcast Episode: Testing for STDs: What You Need to Know
February 26th, 2020New Podcast Episode: Condoms
February 19th, 2020HVCS’ Peer Health Alliance or PHA podcast is fun, open conversation about reducing the risk of sexually transmitted infections and overall sexual health tips for young men ages 13-29 in the LGBTQ community and anyone who wants to know more about staying safe when it comes to sex.
In this episode Steph, Naomi & Andy talk about condoms, condom flavors, lube and more.
Subscribe and listen to more episodes on Spotify, iTunes, your favorite podcast app, or the web.
HVCS & Cornerstone’s Intent to Merge Press Conference – VIDEO
February 13th, 2020The two non-profits hosted a joint press conference regarding the merger on Wednesday, February 12 2020 from 11:15 am to 11:45 pm at the Kaplan Family Health Center, 147 Lake Street, Newburgh. Read here for more coverage. or the article at MidHudsonNews.com.
HVCS & Cornerstone Announce Intent to Merge
February 13th, 2020
Andrea Straus, HVCS’ Executive Director, speaks at the press conference held on Wednesday, February 12, 2020 to announce the intended merger.
Cornerstone Family Healthcare (CFH) and Hudson Valley Community Services (HVCS) are announcing plans to integrate their services and administrative functions in late 2020 after both organizations signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to merge. CFH, with 50,000 patients and sixteen locations, and HVCS, with over 3,200 clients and seven locations, already share a number of clients and a programmatic focus on assisting underserved patients.
Pending regulatory approvals and a final board vote, both organizations expect the merger to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The decision to merge followed months of preparatory work by each non-profit’s board of directors. HVCS’ board began a strategic search for a merger partner in 2018 due to the changing health care environment. Exact programmatic and departmental structures are to be mapped out over the coming months.
Wayne Day, Chairman of the Cornerstone Family Healthcare Board of Directors, said, “The decision to merge our organizations came after many months of due diligence on the part of both boards. The more we looked into it, the more the merger made sense to everyone involved. Hudson Valley Community Services and its board of directors share our values and commitment to this community. Uniting our organizations in this way will improve our ability to serve those who rely on us.”
“The HVCS board, directors and staff undertook a comprehensive strategic planning process starting in 2018,” explained Andrew Evans, President of HVCS’ Board of Directors. “During this journey, I am heartened by the synergies that this merger will bring to both enhance, improve and broaden services to the clients that we already serve in the Hudson Valley and will give us access to even more persons-in-need. Merging gives better assurance that the customer service values and the history and culture of HVCS will be maintained for years to come.”
Linda S. Muller, MS, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cornerstone Family Healthcare, said: “Hudson Valley Community Services and Cornerstone Family Healthcare have shared a common mission for decades, meeting the health and human service needs of the Hudson Valley community. Combining our organizations will strengthen our programs while ensuring that the valuable services we offer remain accessible to those who need them in our community.”
Andrea Straus, HVCS’ Executive Director, discussed her pleasure at the news. “Together our two organizations, as an integrated entity, will be able to continue offering not only the quality medical care that Cornerstone has always delivered, but also bring HVCS’s expertise to address the social determinants of health that are so critical in ensuring that Hudson Valley residents have a high quality of life,” she said. “I am so pleased to see HVCS enter a new phase in its development and growth. “
The two non-profits hosted a joint press conference regarding the merger on Wednesday, February 12 2020 from 11:15 am to 11:45 pm at the Kaplan Family Health Center, 147 Lake Street, Newburgh. View the Facebook Live video for a limited amount of time.
About Cornerstone Family Healthcare
The purpose of Cornerstone Family Healthcare, a non-profit organization, is to provide high-quality, comprehensive, primary and preventative health care services in an environment of caring, respect, and dignity, and in a cost-effective manner that maximizes revenues; to be responsive to the needs of the communities that we serve but with continued emphasis on the underserved and those without access to care regardless of race, economic status, age, sex, sexual orientation, or disability.
Cornerstone Family Healthcare is an organization licensed to operate by the State of New York as an Article 28 Diagnostic and Treatment Center. It also is recognized by the Federal Government as a Section 330 Federally Qualified Health Center. Our Center also operates with the following designations: Medically Underserved Area (MUA), Medically Underserved Population (MUP), and serving in a Health Professionals Shortage Area (HPSA). Cornerstone was recognized by The Joint Commission for offering higher standards of care to its patients, a distinction that few Community Health Centers have received.
Although a significant proportion of our patients are enrolled in federal or state health insurance programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, or Family or Child Health Plus, a large number of the patients who utilize our services have their own medical insurance. Our core mission remains to provide primary and preventative medical services to any who need our service regardless of ability to pay.
New Podcast Episode: STDs…the Truth Is Out There!
February 12th, 2020In this episode Steph, Naomi and Andy debunk a few of the myths about sexually transmitted diseases or STD’s. You don’t want to miss this one!
Subscribe for more episodes or listen to each one on Spotify, iTunes and other platforms!
All In A Day’s Work: Assisting a Client With Housing Issues
February 11th, 2020
Dora*, a Health Homes client since 2016, has active mental health issues and does not leave her basement apartment much. Dora’s apartment in Westchester County had not been renovated since she moved there in 2018, and she had problems with vermin and structural safety concerns. The kitchen floor tiles were loose, a large metal ladder in her living room was not bolted in and was unstable, and her food pantry had no door. This exacerbated the vermin problem. She also had no bars on her windows and lives in a tough neighborhood. Her oven had not worked correctly in months, forcing her to use a microwave for all meals. The landlord had not been responding to her many attempts to have these issues fixed.
After advocating for the client and assisting her with various paperwork, our Care Assistant, Chiffon, got the Urban League (a division of the Department of Social Services) to perform inspections. (Urban League now checks on Dora once a month, too.) The landlord was forced to replace her entire apartment’s floor with beautiful wood grain boards, address the safety concerns, replace her stove, and arrange for an exterminator service. Chiffon also arranged for Dora to receive a food delivery service and SNAP (formerly known as food stamps). Dora has expressed great satisfaction with Health Home services. Great job, Chiffon!
*Not her real name. Stock photo used for illustrative purposes.
Hepatitis A Outbreak in Dutchess County
February 10th, 2020Beginning this summer, officials noticed an uptick in Hepatitis A cases and by fall identified this as an outbreak. Infections are highest among transient populations including people who use/inject drugs, individuals who are homeless or in shelter/temporary housing situations, as well as individuals who have recently been released from jail.
With guidance from the Dutchess County Department of Health, we strongly recommend Hepatitis A vaccinations for our clients that identify as the priority population. As a general advisory, we want to make everyone aware that handwashing is the number one recommendation to safeguard yourselves. Additionally, Hepatitis A vaccinations are available with primary care doctors. Being vaccinated is the best defense against Hep A!
For more information, please contact us at (914) 345-8888 or by email.
PrEP, PEP and Hep A: Podcast Episode
February 5th, 2020In this episode of our new podcast, we discuss what PrEP & PEP are and how they both work. Plus learn about the rise of Hep A here in the Hudson Valley and how to protect yourself against a range of harmful sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
You can also listen to more episodes on Spotify, iTunes and other podcast platforms–subscribe today!