Behavioral Health Services North (BHSN) has received endorsement from Glens Falls Hospital and the Warren/Washington Community Service Board to move forward with becoming the provider for outpatient substance abuse, mental health treatment and child and family services for the Glens Falls region.
Based out of Plattsburgh, BHSN operates 23 programs ranging from behavioral health for adults and children, residential services, care management, and various social programs and is also a certified community behavioral health clinic (CCBHC) designee through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
CCBHCs provide a comprehensive collection of services that create access, stabilize people in crisis, and provide the needed treatment and recovery support services for those with mental and substance use disorders. In harmony with the CCBHC model, BHSN’s care approach focuses on access, care coordination, quantified health outcomes, and treating the whole person, officials said.
Acupuncture Practitioners Say Treating For Depression During Pandemic Is On The Rise
Courtesy Acupuncture Nirvana
By Christine Graf
After being deemed non-essential and forced to close at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, acupuncturists were permitted to reopen in June. During the closure, the Acupuncture Society of New York (ASNY) pushed for the governor to grant the profession essential status.
“We were closed for two-and-a-half months, and then we were granted essential status,” said Katherine “Kat” MacKenzie, licensed acupuncturist and owner of Acupuncture Nirvana in Glens Falls. “We fought for it and got it. We have a very strong association (ASNY), and they went after it and they won.”
Saratoga Hospital Offering Occupational Medicine Services At Queensbury Location
Courtesy Saratoga Hospital
Saratoga Hospital now offers comprehensive occupational medicine services in Queensbury to help area businesses maintain safe, healthy environments for employees and clients.
Services are provided by Saratoga Hospital Medical Group – Occupational Medicine, 959 Route 9, Queensbury.
Members of the practice are experts in preventing, diagnosing and treating workplace injuries, helping businesses comply with regulatory requirements and ensuring safe work environments.
COVID Exposure Notification Mobile App Launched By New York, New Jersey Officials
New York and New Jersey launched COVID-19 exposure notification mobile apps in their respective states that officials claim will serve as crucial tools to supplement the effort to trace and contact individuals subject to a COVID exposure.
The apps, COVID Alert NY and COVID Alert NJ, notify users of potential COVID-19 exposure while maintaining user privacy and security.
The states join Pennsylvania and Delaware in creating a regional COVID Alert app network that operates across state lines to stop the spread of COVID-19. Connecticut has also will launch the Exposure Notification System in the coming weeks.
The free mobile apps-available to anyone 18 or older who lives, works, or attends college in New York or New Jersey-are available for download from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
Body Relief Day Spa In Queensbury Supports Balance, Harmony With Wellness Services
By Susan E. Campbell
The array of wellness techniques practiced at Body Relief Day Spa is helping people get relief from stress, anxiety, fibromyalgia pain, arthritis and many other soft-tissue conditions.
Owners Alyssa and David Dawkins are approaching 45 years of combined experience as licensed massage therapists. The business is located at 980 Route 9 in Queensbury.
“The universe we live in has some concept of balance,” David said. “Our job is trying to maintain human balance, or homeostasis.”
Business Report: Is Your Diet Decreasing Productivity?
By Maria Savino
Do you ever feel tired, sluggish, unproductive, and like you are struggling to get through your day? I’m sure all of us have experience this at one time or another, but the reason for it may not be what you think.
Your lack of motivation or energy is not always due to lack of sleep or your mindset. Often, low energy and decreased productivity are the results of a poor diet.
Food is fuel and the different nutrients that you receive from food are essential for your body to perform certain tasks.
For example, carbohydrates are needed for energy, protein is needed for growth, development, and tissue repair, and fats are essential for cushioning our organs and insulating the body.
When your body lacks a certain nutrient it will let you know, often through unpleasant physical symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, or irritability.
Enrollment In NY State Of Health Insurance Programs Is Open Through End Of January
NY State of Health, the state’s official health plan Marketplace has a variety of health insurance options available to New Yorkers in 2020.
Open Enrollment for coverage in a 2020 Qualified Health Plan started Nov. 1 and will continue through Jan. 31. New York’s enrollment window is twice as long as the federal marketplace, giving consumers more time to shop for the best coverage for themselves and their families.
“Marketplace enrollment is at its highest point ever with more than 4.8 million New Yorkers enrolled in comprehensive health insurance coverage, but there’s still more work to be done,” said NY State of Health Executive Director Donna Frescatore. “As we enter our seventh year, New Yorkers will once again have a broad choice of affordable and quality health plan options in every corner of the state, and our free in-person assistors are ready to help consumers shop for the most affordable plan option.”
Glens Falls Registered Nurse Adds Life And Health Coaching To Her Wellness Resume
Courtesy Emily Coutts
By Susan E. Campbell
High Peaks Health Coaching is a new company that offers support and encouragement to anyone who wants to achieve and sustain a healthier lifestyle.
“It is a wave of the future,” said Emily Coutts, who has been a registered nurse in Glens Falls for the past 13 years. “Even insurance companies are showing more interest in life coaching because they want people to be healthier and to prevent the long-term affects and climbing costs of illness.”
Coutts said the underlying concept of her business is to help clients change their habits and, in the process, “help them become the best versions of themselves.”
Catalysts for change can come from any source, said Coutts. Perhaps the client wants help pursuing a different career. Maybe he or she has some relationship challenges or financial concerns. Some even seek assistance when their children go off to college and face an empty nest.
“In all these cases, people are simply looking for more out of life,” she said.
Glens Falls Hospital To Join Albany Med Health Care System That Includes Saratoga Hospital
Courtesy Glens Falls Hospital
Glens Falls Hospital and Albany Medical Center have begun a process designed to lead to better coordination of care for residents of Warren and Washington counties and greater operational efficiency for both organizations.
The goal of this strategic alliance is to ensure that the Glens Falls region continues to have access to the highest quality care, as well as expanded access to specialty care services, officials said.
Glens Falls Hospital, which has long been a partner in care with Albany Med, joins Saratoga Hospital and Columbia Memorial Hospital in a system that will now total 1,507 beds, almost 60,000 surgical cases and nearly 2.5 million outpatient visits annually.
An affiliation agreement between Saratoga Hospital and Albany Medical Center that officials said created a more efficient health care system and improved access to specialty care for residents of Saratoga County, received state approval in October of 2016.
The agreement with Glens Falls, adopted by the governing boards of both organizations, will help better coordinate and integrate clinical services and identify operational efficiencies between Glens Falls Hospital and Albany Med, the regional tertiary care center, officials said.
Adirondack Health Institute’s New Network Addresses Social Factors That Impact Health
Adirondack Health Institute (AHI), in collaboration with numerous community, social service, public sector, and health care provider organizations, has launched ADK Wellness Connections, a powerful, centrally-connected resource navigation and referral coordination network.
ADK Wellness Connections aims to improve access to care and services to address unmet social and health-related needs for individuals and families in the greater Adirondack region. It is part of a larger effort to increase collaboration and interoperability between clinical and social service providers, under the state Department of Health Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program. A five-year program beginning in 2015, DSRIP was intended to transform care delivery to individuals who receive Medicaid with the goals of reducing avoidable hospital use, increasing access to primary and preventative care, and improving population health outcomes.
Addressing social factors that impact health outcomes, such as housing, transportation, and access to nutritious food, has proven to be a key consideration in DSRIP initiatives.
ADK Wellness Connections utilizes Unite Us, a secure, HIPAA-compliant software platform, to support referral coordination, resource navigation, and the collection of social determinants of health outcomes data among network partners in Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Saratoga, St. Lawrence, Warren, and Washington counties.