Working Together
for a Fit CNY

About the Regional Health Assessment Project

The Regional Health Assessment Project (RHA) involves the participation and collaboration of eight county health departments: Cayuga, Cortland, Herkimer, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, and Tompkins.

Beginning in the summer of 2004, this project seeks to address the health needs and priorities of Central New York, in addition to enhancing and maintaining a long-standing collaborative relationship among the counties and county stakeholders. This project is funded by a grant from the Community Health Foundation of Western and Central New York.

Background

Over 1,100,000 people reside in a geographic area of almost 7,000 sq. miles in the central region of New York State. The eight-county region, illustrated below, comprises a balance of an urban center, suburban communities, small-city and rural living. Each county faces the challenge of keeping its residents in better health, perhaps tackling unique health concerns, but more than likely facing issues shared by its neighbors. Health is just one of the many common interests that make this area of the state a community.

While county health assessments have been conducted periodically, no regional, multi-county assessment exists for this area. The New York State Department of Health requires a periodic health assessment be conducted and reported by all counties, the most recent edition of which was due by the end of 2004. The available resources to collect such data vary by county and the Health Department offers only very broad reporting guidelines. As a result, there is a lack of uniform standards for the collection and reporting of data, which makes a comparison across counties extremely difficult.