Foundation for Long Term Care, Inc.

The six-county Eastern Adirondack region is a reflection of the trend currently unfolding in rural New York State— currently 14.8% of the region’s population is over the age of 65, with 9% of those having incomes at or below the poverty level.

With limited transportation, wireless coverage, and health centers, the expansive and rural geography of the region creates formidable challenges to developing, operating, and financially sustaining long-term care services and supports (LTCSS). As a medically underserved area, only four long-term home health care programs and eight certified home health care agencies serve the region. NYHealth awarded Foundation for Long Term Care, Inc., (FLTC) a grant to develop a multifaceted action plan to ensure access to a range of high-quality LTCSS.

Under this grant, FLTC established and convened a core group of partner organizations to determine options for sharing and potentially integrating services and functions. The goal of the action plan was to effect organizational mergers and restructuring; reimbursement changes and regulator modifications; quality improvement processes; and recommendations on statewide strategies to improve LTCSS.