GOWANDA — Through a $2.5 million New York State Department of Health planning grant, Healthy Community Alliance, Inc. founded the CBO Consortium of Upstate New York in 2018 to work with community-based organizations (CBOs) across upstate New York to advance health equity for all individuals and help organizations achieve better population health outcomes in their communities. With that grant funding coming to an end, the Consortium’s leadership has been planning for long-term sustainability, and they will continue to offer their members support through trainings, webinars, a new member web portal, and more. CBOs who are not yet a part of the Consortium, still have time to join as new members.

Ann Battaglia, Chief Executive Officer for Healthy Community Alliance, Inc. said, “We are proud of everything the Consortium has accomplished together so far, from helping our members better understand, measure, and communicate their value to potential payers and funders, to the opportunities we’ve provided for cross-interaction and bi-directional learning among CBOs and payers. We’re excited to now roll out our technology opportunities to members. By implementing the online security package we’ve offered, CBOs can achieve a higher level of security awareness and compliance. Each CBO will also have the chance for a member of their staff to attend a Microsoft Office training with New Horizons Computer Learning Centers sometime over the next year.”

As the Consortium works on integrating their learnings into a comprehensive sustainability plan and strategy, which will be submitted to New York State Department of Health later this Spring, they will continue the work they’ve started, including hosting their monthly member “All Call” webinar meetings, to provide education and resources to CBO members. The Consortium will also soon be launching a new member web portal which houses many useful resources, including a readiness assessment tool. This tool evaluates how prepared an organization is for the new Value Based Payment (VBP) environment and gives customized guidance to help ensure a successful transition in this fast-changing, post-DSRIP environment.

The CBO Consortium of Upstate NY was established in December 2018 to support community-based organizations (CBOs) in the rapidly transforming health care and wellness delivery system. Over 250 CBOs have joined the Consortium, and together, have expanded their capacity, learned from each other, piloted new ideas and prepared for Value-Based Payment (VBP). They are the largest consortium in New York State, covering five subregions and 48 upstate counties. To learn more, visit their website at https://www.cboconsortium.org/.

Join the CBO Consortium now by visiting their website at https://www.cboconsortium.org/join/.