A Division of Cornerstone Family Healthcare
April 6, 2021 –
All New Yorkers age 16 and up are now eligible for the vaccine.
Eligible groups include doctors, nurses and health care workers, people age 16 and over, first responders, teachers, public transit workers, grocery store workers, public safety workers and New Yorkers with certain comorbidities and underlying conditions.
Please visit the New York State website for additional information on eligibility.
For more coronavirus resources, visit this page.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo decreed that domestic travelers will no longer be required to quarantine after entering New York from another U.S. State or U.S. Territory starting April 1st. While no longer required, the NYS Department of Health still recommends quarantine after domestic travel as an added precaution. Mandatory quarantine remains in effect for international travelers. All travelers must continue to fill out the Traveler Health Form. Individuals should continue strict adherence to all safety guidelines to stop the spread – wearing masks, socially distancing and avoiding gatherings.
While No Longer Required, Quarantine After Domestic Travel is Still Advised as Added Precaution
Mandatory Quarantine Remains in Effect for International Travelers
All Travelers Covered Must Continue to Fill Out Traveler Health Form Upon Arrival Into New York State
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that domestic travelers will no longer be required to quarantine after entering New York from another U.S. State or U.S. Territory starting April 1st. While no longer required, the NYS Department of Health still recommends quarantine after domestic travel as an added precaution. Mandatory quarantine remains in effect for international travelers. All travelers must continue to fill out the Traveler Health Form. Individuals should continue strict adherence to all safety guidelines to stop the spread – wearing masks, socially distancing and avoiding gatherings.
“New Yorkers have shown strength and perseverance throughout this entire pandemic, and it shows through the numbers that continue to decrease every day,” Governor Cuomo said. “As we work to build our vaccination infrastructure even further and get more shots in arms, we’re making significant progress in winning the footrace between the infection rate and the vaccination rate, allowing us to open new sectors of our economy and start our transition to a new normal in a post-pandemic world. As part of that transition, quarantine for domestic travelers is no longer required, but it is still being advised as an added precaution. This is great news, but it is not an all-clear for New Yorkers to let their guard down. To beat this virus once and for all we all must continue doing what we know works to stop the spread, including wearing masks, washing our hands and practicing social distancing.”
Regardless of quarantine status, all individuals exposed to COVID-19 or returning from travel must:
HVCS has conducted its own analysis of the HIV
treatment cascade for a few years now. This is a
statistical look at the number of clients who are
HIV-positive, are connected to medical care (at all,
and how many have continuous care), and the
percentage who are virally suppressed. (This means
that their viral load, or measurement of how many
copies of HIV are in their blood, is so low that it cannot
be detected.) Among those who have medical care,
95% of HVCS’ clients are virally suppressed!
This figure for 2019 is even better than for previous
years, so we are doing better and better all the time.
Virally suppressed clients cannot transmit HIV to
others, so this is doubly good news.
In mid-December, we received an email from the Ulster County Department of Mental Health. They asked if we would be interested in signing on as a subcontractor on a grant from NACCHO: the National Association of City and County Health Officials. Specifically, they wanted to know if we would be up for reviving or rebooting our Mid-Hudson Project Reach Out (PRO) program to provide support and referrals to Ulster County residents with substance use disorder issues. We said yes, collaborated on a grant application, and were very pleased to learn that it was funded!
Street Outreach will offer many of the same services as PRO but is not van-based. Services include referrals to full spectrum addiction treatment (including in- and outpatient services and transportation to intake/admission appointment as needed), Expanded Syringe Access Program (ESAP), Syringe Exchange Program (SEP), Narcan training, HIV/HCV/STI testing counseling and navigation, case management, and food assistance.
Though we wish we could bring back PRO to the entire Mid-Hudson, we are thrilled to restore it to one county at least, and to have found a brand-new funding partner in Ulster County Department of Mental Health.
Late last fall, we received word from the New York State Attorney General’s office that our plan to merge with Cornerstone Family Healthcare was approved, without any comments or requested changes to the plan. We have set a merger date of March 1, 2021 for the official merger.
What This Means For Clients:
Clients of HVCS should not see or feel any difference in services once we merge. All services and programs are staying intact and operational. Clients’ case managers and contacts will all remain the same. Our website, phone numbers and email addresses will also be the same, and our physical offices will remain where they are and open the same hours.
The changes for clients are all positive: we will be able to provide clients with more services via direct and active referrals to Cornerstone’s medical, dental, OBGYN, behavioral health and mental health programs. Clients will be able to see medical staff via telemedicine appointments, either from their home or from our offices.*
We have a handy FAQ guide for clients on our website, in English and Spanish.
What This Means For Supporters:
The Hudson Valley Community Services brand will continue, like our website. Our food and toiletry closets, client emergency funds, and fundraising programs will carry on as well. (We hope to bring back some of our fundraising events, too, once the Covid-19 pandemic has eased.) Donations made to HVCS will still be applied to HVCS programs.
What Is Cornerstone?
Cornerstone Family Healthcare (CFH) is a non-profit Federally Qualified Health Center with a mission to provide high quality, comprehensive, primary and preventative health care services in an environment of caring, dignity and respect to all people regardless of their ability to pay. For more than fifty years, Cornerstone has been responsive to meeting the needs of the communities they serve with a continued emphasis on the under-served and those without access to health care–regardless of race, economic status, age, sex, sexual orientation or disability.
Since Cornerstone is also a non-profit, you can choose, in the future, to donate to the entire organization and help even more people access the healthcare they need. Cornerstone serves more than 40,000 people each year!
*All visits are by appointment only, until further notice.
Hosted by Oriol R. Gutierrez Jr.
Are HIV-positive people at greater risk for COVID-19? One reporter from Spectrum News asked that question and contacted us for perspective. JanetLynn Remy-Decastro, one of our peers, sat down for a television news interview with reporter Dominic McKenzie. He also talked with Jennifer Deekens, an infectious disease nurse practitioner from Cornerstone Family Healthcare for the medical side of this issue.
Watch the piece here: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/hudson-valley/coronavirus/2020/03/19/are-people-with-hiv-at-great-risk-for-coronavirus#
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!
Hudson Valley Community Services has been awarded a grant for $22,000 from The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF) in partnership with Macy’s. The grant will be used for HVCS’ Psychosocial Support Services (PSS) program, which is a unique vehicle to provide HIV-positive residents of Westchester, Putnam and Rockland with emotional and psychological support, support groups, and ensure they remain connected to care and community. Specifically, ETAF’s grant will fund art therapy and interactive journaling for the women’s support group. PSS began on March 1, 2019.
HVCS is honored to be recognized for our innovative approach in support of people affected by HIV and AIDS. “Hudson Valley Community Services is a powerful part of a collective effort to achieve an AIDS-free world, a world Elizabeth Taylor is still helping to realize through ETAF” said Catherine Brown, Executive Director of The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. “ETAF and Macy’s are honored to support HVCS with these funds to continue our aligned goals of health equity and zero discrimination for all people living with or at risk for HIV and AIDS.”
Through their Cause Marketing Program, Thanks For Sharing, Macy’s recognizes their responsibility to support disadvantaged communities and the needs of their neighbors. They are proud to partner with ETAF and have contributed to this grant.
The Psychosocial Support Services program’s main funder is the Ryan White CARE Act, Part A, administered by Public Health Solutions.
About The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF)
Founded in 1991, The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF) joins Elizabeth’s voice in the fight for social justice and human rights for people living with HIV and AIDS to achieve an AIDS-free world. Inspired by Elizabeth’s personal passion for the cause, in 2019 ETAF is focused on youth, women, children and families, ensuring they receive the direct care and support they need both domestically and in Malawi, the hotspot of the global epidemic. ETAF’s advocacy and awareness initiatives concentrate on elevating Elizabeth’s voice to secure care for the marginalized and social equity for all. To learn more or to make a donation please visit www.etaf.org.