Genesee County (NY) is examining a range of options for its county long term-care operations, which include a nursing home, adult care home, and adult day care program. The county engaged CGR to help assess whether it should maintain some or all of the operations and if so, how to deliver services more cost effectively. In addition, CGR is helping the county weigh other options along a continuum, up to and including the sale of a facility.

CGR is currently assessing options for the Fulton County (NY) nursing home and certified home health agency – including maintaining them as county-funded operations or selling either or both. As part of the assessment CGR designed a Request for Proposals on behalf of the county to gauge the interest of prospective buyers. The RFP asks them to respond to a series of questions and  issues, and the responses will help guide the county in making decisions about the next steps in the process. CGR’s work with the county builds on extensive experience we’ve gained analyzing a wide range of options for similar county-owned operations throughout NYS. 

CGR is working with the Suffolk County (NY) Department of Health Services on a cost benefit analysis of the  Bureau of Public Health Nursing. CGR is reviewing the mission and model of care within the bureau; reviewing the role of public health nurses elsewhere; describing the potential role of the public health nurses in addressing emerging issues such as bioterrorism and pandemics; and  recommending models of care that the county could adopt going forward.

For County Nursing Facilities of New York, CGR updated a study of county-owned and operated nursing facilities that we completed a decade ago. CGR profiled the current status of county facilities, reviewed progress on previously identified issues, explored new and continuing challenges confronting county nursing homes, and reviewed and updated the available options for meeting these challenges. The new study recommends alternatives that can be utilized in the future.

Rochester NY is the first U.S. city to have a housing inspection law that incorporates both visual inspections and dust wipes for rental units located in areas at high risk for lead paint problems. CGR conducted a 2-year study, funded by the Greater Rochester Health Foundation, of the impact of the law from July 2006 - July 2008. CGR found nearly 3,440 housing units have been or will be made lead safe because of the law, but nearly a third of the units with interior lead hazards would have been missed without dust wipe testing. The cost of compliance by landlords was lower than expected.

The NYS Health Foundation, which resulted from the for-profit conversion of NYC-based Empire Blue Cross, is one of the nation’s largest health care conversion foundations – with $250 million in assets at startup. The foundation asked CGR to summarize the state of the health of New Yorkers by researching and charting key health indicators. CGR developed information on a wide range of topics, from health care access (by age, income, education, gender and race) to information on specific diseases. The information is provided in a series of charts and maps on the NYS Health Foundation website. Information is provided by county and, for some NYC indicators, by borough. The indicators project is one of 3 major projects CGR has conducted for the foundation.

CGR completed a study on worksite wellness issues for the Rochester (NY) Business Alliance. We examined worksite wellness metrics and best practices, identified examples of initiatives in the U.S., and described resources available to employers interested in starting programs.  CGR also designed a survey of employers and employees regarding specific perceptions.  Employers cited stress and tobacco as top issues affecting worker productivity, and said barriers to implementing worksite wellness programs are lack of time to administer them and concerns about cost.  For employees, the desire to improve their health is a top motivator for program participation, and top barriers to participation are lack of time and lack of need.