Upstate CHHA Applications Considered

Public Health Council Considers Upstate CHHA Applications

During the September 20, 2012, Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC) committee  meetings, the Committee on Establishment and Project Review recommended that several applications  for CHHA services in upstate counties be approved.  These ten applications are detailed in the  attachment. Four of the applications are for new establishment, one is for the conversion of a special needs CHHA to a general purpose CHHA while the remaining five are expansions of existing agencies. Final action on these applications will be taken during the full PHHPC meeting of October 11, 2012.

Other upstate CHHA applications have been deferred, but applicants will have the opportunity to  provide additional information to DOH to strengthen their applications and have them reconsidered by DOH and the Council. The same opportunity exists for downstate CHHA applications that were  deferred during August’s PHHPC committee meeting. The initial deadline for submitting additional materials is October 17. DOH intends to make thirty day extensions available, but organizations  requesting extensions may not be reviewed in time for consideration during the November/December  PHHPC meeting cycle. Accordingly, DOH has told LeadingAge NY that it is possible that some CHHA applications will be considered in the January/February timeframe.

DOH has sent a letter to each deferred applicant informing them of this opportunity to provide further  information.  Organizations will also have an opportunity to speak with DOH staff regarding the process, and LeadingAge NY recommends that affected members take advantage of this opportunity by  contacting DOH to request a debriefing as soon as possible. DOH recommends that applicants review  the transcript or archived webinar of the CHHA discussion during the August 9th PHHPC meeting. These  resources do not appear to be available on the DOH website at this time—we will let members know  how to access these when they are available. In addition, we have asked DOH to provide a copy of their  staff review to each deferred upstate applicant – as was done for the downstate applications – to give affected applicants a better sense of which review criteria were not fully met. This request is under  consideration. The meeting materials are available here.  DOH posts archived Webcasts here.

Contact: Cheryl Udell, cudell@leadingageny.org, 518.867.8383