Background

Chautauqua Health Network (CHN) was established in 1995. Since then, CHN has spent the past twenty-six years demonstrating successful service coordination and collaboration among network participants through education, enterprise development and rural health provider support.

Chautauqua Health Network serves residents across the county with the goal of structuring a healthcare system that provides access to quality services and meets the needs of consumers, as well as providers. Local health care providers have joined together to help establish a network with the purpose of identifying and meeting the healthcare needs of our citizens. Representatives from hospitals, physician offices, human services agencies, education, business, and citizens partner with CHN to achieve the organization’s goals and objectives.

Service Area

CHN serves the westernmost county in New York State, which includes the two cities of Jamestown and Dunkirk, along with twenty-seven towns and fifteen villages, covering a total of 1,500 square miles. The county is geographically, and to some extent socially and economically divided between “north” and “south” county. The most recent estimate from 2020 indicates a county population of 127,657 residents.

Organizational Structure

CHN was incorporated in November 1998, received 501(c)(3) status in March 2000, and is represented by hospitals, physicians, other health care providers and community leaders. The Board of Directors is comprised of the Chief Executive Officers of the two hospitals in Chautauqua County, their governing boards, and medical staff. The Board of Directors also includes representatives from the Citizen Advisory Board (CAB). All motions, resolutions and decisions are passed by consensus. The Board of Directors is responsible for monitoring and evaluating all aspects of CHN.

The CAB is a committee of CHN with broad representation from across the county. It is charged with making recommendations to the Board of Directors concerning policies, practices, and program initiatives that will provide for quality, affordable, accessible healthcare while promoting optimum health and wellness for all the people of Chautauqua County. School, business, and community leaders regularly attend meetings and contribute to the process, along with local physicians.

Funding

As a not-for-profit, state-designated Rural Health Network (RHN), Chautauqua Health Network consistently applies for and implements programs and projects in the Chautauqua County community funded by federal, state, local and private foundation grant funding.

Subsidiary Companies

Chautauqua Health Network, and sister organization, Chautauqua Integrated Delivery System aim to create a model of healthcare that provides access to quality services and meets the needs of consumers and providers. We are redesigning processes to embrace care coordination and realign services to achieve cost savings.

The Integrated Delivery System (IDS) was established in 1997 as an Independent Practice Association (IPA) and was one of the first community-oriented physician/hospital IPAs to address the lack of adequate Medicare Managed Care services in Chautauqua County.

Through community collaboration, CHN believes we can improve the overall healthcare services for the benefit of patients, payers, and providers.