O.C. Health Department Awarded $580,500 Grant

GOSHEN – Orange County Executive Steven M. Neuhaus and Health Commissioner Dr. Eli Avila , M.D., J.D., M.P.H., FCLM, DABLM have announced that the County has been awarded a competitive $580,500 grant for a State Partnership Initiative to address health disparities in the City of Newburgh.

“I’m glad that our Health Department was awarded these funds to ensure that all residents of the City of Newburgh have access to the healthcare that they need and deserve,” Neuhaus said. “Dr. Avila and his team are keeping the County’s Health Department front and center in the effort to eliminate barriers and empower the people of the City of Newburgh to make healthy choices with regard to their healthcare.”

The grant will help the County’s Health Department address health disparities through community engagement and mobilization focused on improving access to care. Funds will be used in part to help effectively utilize established models of community engagement and partnership-building that will encourage community residents to participate in dialogue around problem identification and prioritization focused on access to care including (but not limited to) enrollment in health insurance and involve community residents and community partners in active participation, collaboration, and collective community action to address community-identified barriers to accessing care.

“I am very proud of our team at the Health Department for receiving this extremely important grant award,” Avila said. “This award will allow us to effectively address some of the health disparity issues that are plaguing the City of Newburgh.  More importantly, we are looking to take the knowledge gained in these studies and apply them to other locations in Orange County.”