Based on its work in 1999 with the Hispanic Health Coalition, FLHSA, in collaboration with IBERO-American Action League, continues to provide staff support to the twenty member Hispanic Health Coalition.

The Nuestra Salud report has been updated (¡Nuestra Salud Hoy! Oct 2004).  provides updated health status information based on the most recent available data and highlights disparities and socio-demographic issues that have either changed significantly since 1999 or that have persisted in the Latino community.

This project is ongoing.

The Latino Health Coalition works to bring together community members, health professionals, and FLHSA staff to define unmet needs, engage community members and develop new thought leaders, increase community knowledge, and to develop the standards and improve the collection of data on patients' race, ethnicity, and preferred language. Please visit the Latino Health Coalition's website for more informaiton.

FLHSA has been awarded a grant from the federal Office of Minority Health to work to improve the overall health and reduce disparity in health status of the Rochester area African-American community. A community Task Force, including both providers and consumers of health care, was assembled and had its first meeting in September 2001. The first year’s objective (completed May 2003) was to assemble information on the health of African-Americans in the Rochester area and to report it to the community.  The printed report may be downloaded.

(For profits $50.00 plus S/H, not for profits $30.00 plus S/H).  Please click on publications to order a printed copy.

Download the Executive Summary (pdf) for free.

Download the Full Report (3 parts) (pdf) for free.                                             

Full Report (above) is a zipped folder containing three .PDF files that make up the complete report.  Blank pages are intentional.  Files can thus be printed or copied on two sides to make a book).                                                               

If the zip file does not open after double clicking, then download WinZip. Go to http://www.winzip.com/downwzeval.htm and click on Evaluation.                           If you need Adobe Reader to read .pdf files go to http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html .  Both are free.

The second phase of the Task Force began (May 2003 - April 2004).  A blueprint of actions/inputs to address disparities is in the creation process.  Community education and outreach activities have begun with various organizations. Future years will see efforts to improve the community’s health status. 

The African-American Health Coalition works to bring together community members, health professionals, and FLHSA staff to define unmet needs, engage community members and develop new thought leaders, increase community knowledge, and to develop the standards and improve the collection of data on patients' race, ethnicity, and preferred language. Please visit the African-American Health Coalition's website for more information.

Building on a work group assembled by Monroe County Executive Doyle when the Genesee Hospital closed, area hospitals, EMS providers, physicians, long term care providers, insurers and other interested parties continue to address issues of getting admitted to and discharged from hospital services, including "Code Red" issues in the Emergency Departments.  "Inflow" and "Outflow" workshops are addressing issues of ED capacity and operations and barriers to timely discharge of inpatients to long term care.  The project is ongoing.

The FLHSA has recently prepared and submitted several Health Professional Shortage Area applications to the Bureau of Primary Care. Applications were submitted for the following areas: Primary Care - part of the city of Rochester; Mental Health - part of the city of Rochester and Wayne, Seneca, Livingston and Schuyler counties; Dental Health - part of the city of Rochester, and parts of Livingston, Wayne and Yates counties. Areas that are designated as Health Professional Shortage Areas are able to: 1) apply to have federally obligated health professionals assigned to the area, 2) participate in the New York State Loan Repayment Programs, and 3) obtain J-1 Visa waivers in order to recruit physicians who have received their training outside of the United States. For information about which areas have been approved, please contact the FLHSA.

On behalf of the New York State Association of Health Planning Agencies, FLHSA is an affiliate New York State Data Center and as such has available a complete collection of census material for this region and for New York State. This information is available for public use. Contact FLHSA’s Research Department if you wish to arrange an appointment to use this data.

FLHSA is lead agency to RATFA, the region’s designated Ryan White HIV CARE Network. In this capacity, FLHSA provides staff support to RATFA, its nine standing committees, and its many special activities. RATFA’s mission is to "prevent the spread of HIV and to enhance and extend the quality of life for all persons affected by the virus." The project is ongoing.  For further information about RATFA go to www.knowingisbetter.org 

The Rochester and Monroe County Partnership on the Uninsured was formed in the spring of 2000 with an ambitious goal: to ensure that all Monroe County residents are continuously covered by an affordable health insurance plan and able to access appropriate health care services when needed. The six organizations in the Partnership are: Excellus, BlueCrossBlueShield of the Rochester Region, the City of Rochester, the County of Monroe, FLHSA, the Monroe Plan for Medical Care and the Rochester Primary Care Network. The Partners contracted with Harris Interactive, Inc. to survey over 1300 households. In addition to the survey, the FLHSA held several community meetings and focus groups in the city of Rochester to understand the access problems experienced by populations at risk of experiencing barriers to obtaining health care and insurance. The survey revealed that 10 percent of Monroe County’s 18 to 64 year old population is without health insurance, well below New York State estimates of 18 to 21 percent. Cost of health insurance and inability to get insurance through employers were the greatest barriers to obtaining coverage. The community meetings underscored the need for safety net providers and insurers to reach out to at-risk populations. The Partnership is currently working on efforts to increase insurance coverage and expand access to care.