The Social Care Network’s (SCN) Governing Body will ensure all parts of the health and social care ecosystem — including community members — are involved in the implementation of New York’s novel SCN & Health-Related Social Needs (HRSN) Program, advancing health equity for more than 650,000 Medicaid Members across three regions.
UPSTATE NEW YORK – Healthy Alliance Foundation, Inc. (Healthy Alliance) – the Social Care Network (SCN) lead entity for the Capital, Central, and North Country regions under New York’s 1115 Waiver Demonstration Amendment’s SCN & Health-Related Social Need (HRSN) Program – has brought together 19 individuals from across its footprint with varied lived experiences to serve on its SCN Governing Body (SCN Council).
The SCN Council will keep the voice of stakeholders and community members at the forefront of the work, propelling Healthy Alliance and its network forward to promote more equitable delivery of HRSN services – including nutrition, housing, social care management (navigation), and transportation – and address the long-standing health, racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic disparities in existing access and quality. It’s an unprecedented development in transforming care, bringing those with a hand in Medicaid redesign together.
“In doing this type of work for a decade, we know firsthand that it takes a village to move the needle,” said Erica Coletti, CEO of Healthy Alliance. “We strategically selected Council members to ensure diverse regional, programmatic, and experiential representation, allowing us to unlock what the true, prevalent needs of our communities are by leveraging their expertise in the places and people they know best. Our SCN Council is the answer; they’re the trusted gatekeepers that will bring community voices to our work and, in turn, profound change to care delivery.”
United by a shared commitment to keep the community member at the center of the work, each SCN Council Member comes to the table with a deep sense of the regional landscape and the varying, complex needs that cut across neighborhoods. With voices from large, private social care agencies focused on building and investing in local programs, grassroot community-based organizations launching micro-groceries to alleviate rural food access issues and career-specific vocational training for people with disabilities, community members who can amplify the realities of those being served by the Program, and more – the SCN Council represents the full spectrum of the health and social care ecosystem. A trusted and dedicated group, these Members will help shape lasting change within this Program and well beyond.
SCN Council members are:
- Alan Jones, Executive Director/CEO of Adirondack Community Action Programs, Inc.
- Amanda Root, Executive Director of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County
- DC Dunkel, Community Member/Advocate
- Jane Vail, Chief Executive Officer of Central New York Health Home Network (CNYHHN)
- Jay Subedi, Community Member/Advocate
- Josh Royce, President and CEO of YMCA of Central New York
- Kim Atkins, Executive Director of Alliance for Positive Health
- Kim A. Smolen, Divisional Director of The Salvation Army
- LaToya Jones-Joe, Community Member/Advocate, Director of LeadSafe CNY Coalition at United Way of CNY and President & CEO of The Joe Family Foundation for Disability Advocacy Inc.
- Lauren Tegnander, Chief Operating Officer (Upstate) of Rehabilitation Support Services, Inc.
- Lynn Glueckert, Chief Program Officer of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany
- Michael Countryman, Executive Director of The Family Counseling Center
- Micky Jimenez, Regional Executive Director of Capital District Latinos
- Paul Joslyn, Executive Director of AccessCNY
- Sawyer Bailey, Executive Director of AdkAction
- Terri Morse, Director of Community Services, Local Government Unit (LGU)
- Tina Fitzgerald, Community Member/Advocate, Self-Advocacy Association of New York State
- Tracy Leonard, Chief Strategy Officer of THRIVE Wellness and Recovery, Inc.
- Tracy Mills, Executive VP of Network Strategy of Hudson Headwaters Health Network
“New York State Department of Health’s Office of Health Insurance Programs (OHIP) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have been diligently working to push this Waiver through to fruition with a vision for an equitable and integrated delivery system, and I know this SCN Council has the capabilities and community relationships to bring that vision to life,” said Paul Milton, President and CEO of Ellis Hospital and Healthy Alliance’s Board Chair.
As the SCN lead entity, Healthy Alliance’s role under the SCN & HRSN Program is to build and maintain a comprehensive network of contracted organizations that work together to identify Medicaid Members’ unmet HRSNs, navigate Members to HRSN services, and reimburse HRSN service providers. The work of the SCN lead entity will advance health equity, reduce health disparities, and support the delivery of social care to ultimately improve health and empower the underserved — what Healthy Alliance has been doing since 2018. To learn more about Healthy Alliance or how to join its SCN, visit www.healthyalliance.org.
