Assemblyman Billy Jones (D-Chateaugay) announced that a bill he authored to establish a Rural Health Council within the state Department of Health has passed the Assembly A.7203.

“Rural communities experience unique difficulties and barriers faced by individuals and the families in these communities require tailored attention,” said Jones. “This council would ensure those concerns are heard and those needs are addressed so that each and every person, no matter what corner of the state they live in, has access to quality health care.”

Senator Kemp Hannon (R-Nassau) introduced this bill in the Senate and offered the following statement: “Rural areas of New York State are especially vulnerable to changes and hardships that are affecting the health care system at both the State and Federal level. It is important for the commissioner to have expert advice from those who fully understand the challenges of rural community healthcare.”

Jones’ legislation would alter the existing rural health council originally established in 1988. The new council would advise the state Department of Health commissioner on all aspects of rural health care and would be required to submit a yearly report to the Regional Economic Development Councils (REDCs) on the status of the health care workforce in rural areas throughout the state.

“Establishing a Rural Health Council in law creates a platform for rural health issues to be discussed and examined. It gives these safety-net providers, who are also the economic drivers in their communities, a voice in Albany and Washington,” said Stephens Mundy, President/CEO of University of Vermont Health Network- Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital. “We thank Assemblyman Jones for his continued support and recognition of the essential role of rural health care.”

The legislation also requires that the council’s members actually come from rural areas which will provided much needed perspective for rural health issues. The bill now goes to the Senate and will need to be signed by the governor to become law.