People First Listening Forums
Governor Spitzer to Host:
“People First” Coordinated Care Listening Forums
Governor Spitzer recently announced that Commissioner Dr. Richard Daines of the Department of Health (DOH), Commissioner Karen Carpenter-Palumbo of the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse (OASAS), Commissioner Michael Hogan of the Office of Mental Health (OMH), and Commissioner Diana Jones Ritter of the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD) will be conducting a series of Coordinated Care Listening Forums throughout the State.
These commissioners will travel the State, listen to the health care needs of New Yorkers, and provide recommendations on how to improve and coordinate support for people who have needs across the four systems. In each different area, the commissioners will be seeking feedback from local communities on access to resources, quality of care, interagency collaboration and coordination of care.
The Coordinated Care Listening Forums will be held statewide at the following areas and dates. (Exact locations to be announced.)
May 14 - New Paltz
June 6 - New York City
June 19 - Buffalo
June 20 - Syracuse
July 13 - Plattsburgh
Please note: Space is limited, seating will be on a first come, first served basis. Forums will be broadcast live at each of the following agency websites.
If you are unable to attend and want to provide feedback, you may e-mail your comments to one of the following:
DOH Email: dohweb@health.state.ny.us
Website: www.nyhealth.gov
OMRDD Email: public.affairs@omr.state.ny.us
Website: www.omr.state.ny.us
OASAS Email: public.affairs@oasas.state.ny.us
Website: www.oasas.state.ny.us
OMH Email: transformation@omh.state.ny.us
Website: www.omh.state.ny.us
The themes that will be addressed at the forums include:
Theme 1: Access
1. Where have you experienced easy and effective access to services?
2. What problems have you experienced in accessing services?
3. Are these problems more difficult when you need to access services from more than one provider or system?
4. What services have been the most difficult to obtain?
5. Have you made decisions about you or your family’s care based on medical cost instead of medical advice?
Theme 2: Quality
1. What does high quality mean to you?
2. What services do you feel are of high quality and meet your needs?
3. Where do you think quality could be improved when accessing services from more than one provider system?
Theme 3: Interagency Collaboration and Coordination of Care
1. Do you feel that your services are generally well coordinated?
2. Are there specific areas where care is well coordinated?
3. Do you have suggestions to help us improve coordination across systems?
For additional information and updates on the exact locations of all forums go to one of the above links
Those of us from Rochester will be carpooling to the forum in Buffalo, and we’ll charter a bus to the forum in Syracuse. I will let you know how they turn out.