ADK WELLNESS NEWS

Meet Our Coordination Center Partners

Nov 17, 2018 | Network News

ADK Wellness Connections is the region’s first coordinated system of public, private, and non-profit organizations working together to serve families in the Adirondack region. Our service area covers nine counties and there are three regional Coordination Centers to help connect community members to resources in their area.

Behavioral Health Services North (BHSN) is the Coordination Center for Franklin, Clinton and Essex counties. BHSN is a regional leader in behavioral health services with a history of caring for our community since 1874. BHSN currently serves thousands of community members each year through 24 programs that provide services that range across the lifespan, from newborn parent education and prenatal health to elderly caregiver respite.

BHSN wanted to serve as the Coordination Center for the Plattsburgh and Saranac Lake region because it’s “in perfect alignment with the agency’s mission of strengthening individuals, families, and our communities by delivering an integrated continuum of essential, responsive, and cost-effective care solutions,” said Shawn Sabella, director of strategy and operational excellence at BHSN.

The Health Initiative is the Coordination Center for St. Lawrence County. The Health Initiative is a Rural Health Network that serves community members at large as well as health care systems and community-based organizations. The agency was incorporated in 1999 as a free-standing 501(c)(3) non-profit organization to secure resources and programming to address three health priority areas: access to care; nutrition and physical activity; and substance use.

“We have heard these providers speak loud and clear over the last three years and they have stated the need for a system to synthesize resources available to our community. ADK Wellness Connections has the potential to meet that need and we wanted to participate,” said Anne Marie Snell, executive director of the Health Initiative.

Family Service Association of Glens Falls, Inc. is the Coordination Center for Hamilton, Fulton, Warren, Washington and Northern Saratoga counties. Family Service Association has been strengthening families since 1910. They support individuals and families who are facing crises or situations that are beyond their resources. These may include: food insecurity, homelessness, illness, job loss and need of transportation. They help guide people toward resolution, so they can function and move toward self-sufficiency.

“Family Service Association is pleased to be involved with ADK Wellness Connections as a Coordination Center. We are known to be an information hub for the tri-county region and are perfectly suited to coordinating referrals that may connect people to services, programs and health care and help alleviate the daily challenges that the social determinants of health can create,” said Kim Sopsyzck, executive director of Family Service Association.