BILL NUMBER: S9650

SPONSOR: BROUK
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to community health
assessment reporting

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To amend the public health law to change the reporting frequency of the
community health assessment

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends section 602-a of the public health law to
amend the frequency of the community health assessment

Section 2 of the bill is the effective date

 
JUSTIFICATION:
              

Article 6 of NYS Public Health Law requires local health departments
(LHDs) to complete a community health assessment (CHA) and Community
Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). To fulfill this requirement, LHDs
collect input from local community members, review locally collected
public health data and collect information from stakeholders to inform
the priority health needs of the jurisdiction they serve. The CHIP plan
outlines actionable interventions that will be implemented to improve
health outcomes. Partners involved in this process include hospitals,
community-based organizations, businesses, local agencies (e.g. mental
health, social services, offices of the aging). LHDs commonly work with
non-profit hospitals who are required by the IRS to complete similar
plans due to their non-profit status. Because LHDs and hospitals are
required to complete these plans, and they hold vested interest in the
health of communities, it is common to see hospitals and LHDs complete
regional or local collaborative plans.

The current challenge for the statutorily mandated frequency of the
Community Health Assessment process includes misalignment with the State
Health Improvement Plan (NYS Prevention Agenda) process, lack of time
for implementation of interventions and programs designed to address the
community health priorities, lack of time to evaluate measurable
outcomes from interventions between assessments and demand on resources
that are focused on the assessment rather than on the community health
improvement plan interventions.

This change will align the Community Health Assessment with the New York
State Prevention Agenda, allow more time to focus on implementation of
effective interventions and a continuous evaluation of changes in
metrics and a reduction of resources that need to be expended to develop
plans.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IM LICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately