Commissioner Announces Task Force to Create Goals to Improve the Health of All New Yorkers

Albany, March 26 -- State Health Commissioner Dr. Barbara A. DeBuono, M.D., today announced the creation of a prestigious panel to develop key public health objectives for the next decade.

Our goal as a State health department is to improve the health of all New Yorkers, Dr. DeBuono said. We need to identify and come to consensus on public health activities which will lead to the largest reduction in preventable deaths and disabilities and the greatest improvement in the quality of life for New Yorkers. The panel will identify up to two dozen public health priorities for New York which will be measurable and meaningful over the coming decade.

The panel's recommendations must recognize not only New York's diverse population in great urban areas, suburbs and rural communities, but also the changes under way in the State's health care delivery system. Once priorities are identified, the group will address ways to promote access to and utilization of preventive health care to improve the public's health.

We want as much input as possible from New Yorkers into this plan, the Commissioner said. A toll-free number -- 1-800-458-1158 -- has been set up to allow New Yorkers to obtain information about the plan as it develops. Using the Internet address of hlthplan@health.state.ny.us will allow people to offer input to help the committee develop its priorities.

The 19 members of the Public Health Priorities Committee have scheduled workshops to be held around the State, gathering data and recommendations from public health professionals, academics, representatives from business and labor, consumer groups, health care providers and anyone interested in health issues. The schedule is:

  • May 1, Binghamton Regency Hotel and Conference Center, One Sarbro Square, Binghamton
  • May 2, Marriott, 6301 Route 298, East Syracuse
  • May 6, Sheridan Inn and Conference Center, Exit 48 NYS Thruway, Batavia
  • May 9, Albany Omni Hotel, Ten Eyck Plaza, Albany
  • May 14, State University of New York at Stony Brook
  • May 17, Grand Hyatt Hotel, Park Avenue at Grand Central, Manhattan

Committee members were chosen based on the recommendations of Commissioner DeBuono and Public Health Council Chair Louise Woerner. The Priorities Committee will draft a plan for review by the Public Health Council, which will evaluate the draft and recommend the priorities and a plan for their implementation to Dr. DeBuono by the fall of 1996.

The Public Health Council has set public health practice standards in our state for more than 80 years, Dr. DeBuono said. Their input to this project will be invaluable. The panel members have been chosen for their experience in promoting the development of policies and programs to address the most pressing health problems of our citizens.

Mary Hibberd, M.D., Suffolk County Health Commissioner and a member of the Public Health Council, will lead the committee. It is a great privilege and responsibility to chair this task force that is committed to work together with New Yorkers to establish public health priorities that can serve as a guide to real and lasting improvement in the health of all our communities, Dr. Hibberd said.

The panel members represent a true public-private partnership committed to improving the public's health. Other committee members are:

  • Kathryn Allen, M.S.P.H., President, New York State HMO Conference
  • R. Hays Bell, Ph.D., Vice President and Director of Health Safety and Environment, Eastman Kodak Co.
  • Robert Berne, Ph.D., Dean and Professor of Public Administration, Robert S. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University
  • John Calascibetta, Administrator, Joint Industry Board of the Electrical Industry, and consultant to the AFL-CIO
  • Joan Ellison, R.N., Ph.D., Public Health Director, Livingston County Department of Health
  • The Honorable Hamilton Fish, former member of the House of Representatives
  • Cutberto Garza, M.D., Ph.D., Director and Professor, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University; Member, New York State Public Health Council
  • William A. Grattan, M.D., chair, Maternal and Child Health Block Grant Advisory Subcommittee, Seton Health Systems, and retired Albany County Health Commissioner
  • Margaret Hamburg, M.D., New York City Health Commissioner
  • Carlos R. Jaen, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Center for Urban Research in Primary Care and Assistant Professor for Family Medicine, Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Buffalo; Member, New York State Public Health Council
  • Philip Landrigan, M.D., M.Sc., Professor and Chair of Community Medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center
  • Roz Lasker, M.D., Director, Division of Public Health, New York Academy of Medicine
  • Brenda McDuffie, Executive Director of the Buffalo and Erie County Private Industry Council and Board Member of Millard Fillmore Hospital
  • Andrew Mezey, M.D., M.S., Associate Dean, Albert Einstein School of Medicine
  • Edward Reinfurt, Vice President, the Business Council of New York State Inc.
  • Edmund O. Rothschild, M.D., Co-Chair of the Preventive Health and Health Services Block Advisory Committee and Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs, St. Joseph's Hospital, Paterson, N.J.
  • Gabriel Russo, C.S.W., former Deputy Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Monroe County
  • M. Monica Sweeney, M.D., M.P.H., Medical Director, Bedford Stuyvesant Family Health Center Inc.

3/26/96-35

OPA Contact: Claudia Hutton, Director, Public Affairs (518) 474-7354
New York State Department of Health Posted 4/11/96