Nassau-Suffolk Hospital, Inc.

To help foster statewide implementation of prevention activities, the New York State Department of Health issued the Prevention Agenda 2013–17 to address disease prevention and reduce health disparities.

All 58 local health departments were required to submit a Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) to the State outlining their strategies to advance the Prevention Agenda. To help energize the implementation of these CHIPs, the New York Health Foundation (NYHealth) awarded grants to health departments with the most innovative and feasible projects to improve the health and wellbeing of their communities through the Advancing New York State’s Prevention Agenda: A Matching Funds Program to Implement Community Health Improvement Plans initiative. The Prevention Agenda offered NYHealth a timely opportunity to build upon its work in diabetes prevention by helping support initiatives that tackle the root causes of diabetes and other chronic conditions, such as obesity and smoking. NYHealth awarded Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council a grant to participate in this initiative.

The Long Island Health Collaborative (LIHC), of which Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council is the coordinating entity, used funds to focus on the Prevention Agenda priority area of preventing chronic disease. LIHC worked with community partners to implement the Walk! Long Island initiative, which aimed to improve health, fitness, and quality of life through daily physical activity. It completed a Complete Streets assessment and implementation plan. By adopting a Complete Streets plan, communities directed their transportation planners and engineers to enable safe access for all users, regardless of age, ability, or mode of transportation. The adoption of a Complete Streets policy made the street network better and safer for drivers, transit users, pedestrians, and bicyclists, and consequently made the community a better place to live.

See a full list of recipients from this initiative.