Citizen Advisory Board

ur Mission

he Citizen Advisory Board (CAB) was organized September 1995 by the Chautauqua County Health Network (CCHN). The CAB was formed to develop positive alternatives that are unique and specific to Chautauqua County's health care needs and opportunities. Its composition includes a broad representation from the county's community.

The CAB's first project was the completion of a community health needs assessment in 1996. Three workgroups were formed according to the age group of the population to be studied - birth through 19, 20 through 64, and 65 and older. Access to health services was identified as the leading barrier to a healthier community by all three workgroups. Access was further defined as the ability to: (1) obtain affordable health insurance, (2) get to a health care provider when services are needed, and (3) find a physician who is accepting new patients.

As a result of this valuable work, the CCHN established the School Health Initiative Task Force to develop strategies to overcome the barrier of getting school children to a health care provider when services are needed.

The CCHN announced in January 1998 that it was undertaking a campaign to reduce the number of uninsured people in Chautauqua County so that more of our citizens have access to quality medical care. This national effort involving hundreds of health care providers across the country is entitled "Campaign For Coverage…A Community Health Challenge." It is an initiative by the American Hospital Association, the Healthcare Association of New York State and the Western New York Healthcare Association. As a result of the expansion of the Child Health Plus program, the Campaign for Coverage Task Force would focus its efforts initially on children.

At the start of 1999 the School Health Initiative Task Force and the Campaign for Coverage Task Force were combined into the Children's Health Initiative Task Force. This Task Force was successful in partnering with Chautauqua Opportunities, Inc. and the Western New York Healthcare Association. for a State grant to facilitate enrollment in Child Health Plus and Medicaid. The CCHN also worked with the County Executive and County Legislature to pass a resolution declaring that "No child should be without health insurance."

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