Elizabethtown Community Hospital grant supports Get Healthy North Country

A regional initiative to promote chronic disease self-management and prevention has received a grant from Elizabethtown Community Hospital (ECH) to support programs in Essex County.

The funding, awarded by ECH’s Community Health program this fall, will support the Get Healthy North Country Community Integrated Health Network (GHNC Network), a regionwide coalition of medical and behavioral health providers, public health units, area offices for the aging, social care agencies and other community organizations that collaborate to bring health and wellness support programs to the people that need them most. Specifically, the ECH grant will help the GHNC Network offset costs associated with program delivery in Essex County.

“Our programs teach individuals, along with their families and friends, how to proactively manage their own health, whether it’s a person with diabetes or cancer, or someone who just wants to feel better and live a fuller life,” said Ann Morgan, executive director of The Heart Network, a Saranac Lake-based nonprofit that facilitates the GHNC Network. “These programs are grant-funded and offered free of cost, so this support from Elizabethtown Community Hospital goes a long way toward helping us recruit more people to participate in Essex County. We’re so grateful for the support.”

“We know that health isn’t just about what happens in a doctor’s office — it’s shaped by the social, environmental, and economic challenges people face every day,” said Amanda Bola, ECH’s director of quality and community benefits. “Supporting community programs is one way we can help address those challenges and truly care for our patients. When hospitals and health care providers work together with local partners, we’re better equipped to meet the needs of our communities and make a lasting impact.”

The funding will be used to reimburse the organizations that coordinate and host community programming for the GHNC Network, and to provide incentives to individuals who participate in a program to completion.

“Our goal is to have at least 360 people across the North Country complete one of our programs,” Morgan said. “That means recruiting 33 people in Essex County to participate in and finish a program. With the support from the hospital, we’re confident we can meet — and hopefully exceed — that goal.”

In Essex County, GHNC Network partners include Adirondack Food System Network, Adirondack Health, Adirondack Health Institute, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County, Elizabethtown Community Hospital, Epilepsy Foundation of Northeastern NY, Essex County Mental Health, Essex County Office for the Aging, Essex County Public Health, Families First of Essex County, Healthy Alliance, Hudson Headwaters Healthcare Network, Mental Health Association of Essex County, Mercy Care for the Adirondacks, Northwinds IPA, Prevention Team of Essex County and St. Joseph’s Community Outreach Center.

Get Healthy North Country’s website — gethealthynoco.org — lists all upcoming programs across the region, which includes in-person, virtual, and telephonic sessions. Programs are offered at no cost, and are generally held once a week for six weeks, though some take place over a longer period of time. Topics include chronic disease, diabetes, cancer, chronic pain, and more.

For more information about Get Healthy North Country, contact Dan Sweet at dsweet@heartnetwork.org.