A Division of Cornerstone Family Healthcare
HVCS’ 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.
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.
In 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!
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.
Beginning 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.
In 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!
HVCS is looking for the best care/case managers, prevention specialists and other qualified staff members for a variety of positions throughout our agency. Enjoy a wealth of benefits and a family-friendly atmosphere. No appointments necessary, simply arrive with your resume. Get a head start on an application by visiting our open positions elsewhere on our website. Positions available throughout the Hudson Valley!
Hudson Valley Community Services’ Bob (representing our Medical Benefits program) and Jovanny (from our Men’s Services HIV prevention program) tabled at the O+ Festival on Saturday, August 3rd in downtown Poughkeepsie. O+ empowers communities to take control of their collective wellbeing through the exchange of art, music, and wellness.
Underinsured artists and musicians create and perform in exchange for a variety of services donated by doctors, dentists and complementary care providers. O+ (pronounced O Positive) calls this exchange the art of medicine for the medicine of art.
HVCS was there to connect with those who might need one of our many services.
Gail*, who is in her seventies and lives alone, suffers from kidney disease and other health concerns. As a result, she has trouble standing and cannot cook for herself. Even if she wanted to, the oven and stove in her apartment do not work well–and she cannot afford to replace them or move. She started receiving assistance from Meals on Wheels, but she did not have a microwave to heat the meals. Gail ate her donated meals cold or had to trouble her neighbor to use her microwave.
Enter Gail’s care manager, Jaclyn. When she learned that Gail was eating cold meals most of the time, she put in a request to HVCS’ Hector Martinez Memorial Fund to purchase a new microwave. The Hector Fund, as we call it, was set up in 2018 in memory of Hector Martinez, a former employee, to provide emergency financial assistance for our clients.
Here’s Gail with her new microwave, which she uses every day to enjoy hot meals–at last! She no longer feels like a burden to her neighbors, either. “I am so appreciative of HVCS and the Hector Fund!” she says.
If you would like to support the Hector Fund and enable more clients like Gail to live with dignity, please visit our Donate page.
*Gail has granted HVCS permission to share her story and photo.
To learn more, visit our Overdose Awareness Day page.