The Healthcare Consortium is a private, nonprofit organization serving Columbia and Greene Counties in the upper Hudson Valley of New York.  Since its inception in 1998, the Consortium has pursued its mission of supporting the health and well-being of the people in its rural community.

 One way in which it advances this mission is by improving access to healthcare services, with a focus on addressing the barriers--whether those are physical, financial, cultural, linguistic, or simply related to the complexity of the healthcare system itself—that people often encounter when trying to access care.  For instance, the Consortium addresses a physical barrier—the inability to get to and from a doctor’s office—by providing non-emergency medical transportation through its Children and Adults Rural Transportation Service, or CARTS, a program funded in part by the Foundation for Community Health.  Similarly, it addresses financial barriers to access by helping people to enroll in both public and private health insurance through its Navigator Program, and by providing access to low and no-cost prescription medications through its Prescription Access and Referral Program, also partially funded by the Foundation. 

Transportation driver, Jim, with a client. Photo credit: The Healthcare Consortium

Through these and other programs that directly serve residents, the Consortium’s staff emphasize “way-finding”—leading others through the maze that is the health and human service system--to ensure that residents can avail themselves of the resources available to them.

The Healthcare Consortium’s work also includes activities to assess the health of the community and plan for how to improve upon it.  It convenes health and human service providers from multiple disciplines and sectors to work collectively and systemically to meet community needs.  Through this work, the Consortium has developed strong partnerships with both public and private organizations throughout the Twin Counties and beyond.

In addition to providing support for individual programs, the Foundation for Community Health has also provided general operating support to the Healthcare Consortium, which has further strengthened the organization’s capacity to serve its community.

More information about the Healthcare Consortium can be found at www.columbiahealthnet.org.