A Message From Our CEO
As it usually is, the early part of the year has been active with advocacy and ensuring that Upstate healthcare is fairly provided for in the FY 2025 budget. Since January, IHA has been working diligently meeting with Upstate representatives and explaining the major threats facing Upstate and rural New York healthcare, including continuing increased costs, labor challenges, changes to cost structures, and hard-to-discharge patients, just to name a few. IHA highlighted the importance of a plan to close the Medicaid gap and the need for immediate financial support to preserve care for the communities our members serve.
Our message definitely resonated with the legislature as our constant advocacy helped shape the legislature’s response to Governor Hochul’s executive budget proposal. In the end, the final FY2025 budget was much improved from the Governor’s proposal. However, work remains and our advocacy will continue to ensure that our members are fairly supported by the budget. IHA could not have achieved this progress without the unwavering support and collaboration of our members. As 2024 marches on we will continue partnering with our members on advocacy and workforce programs to improve the state of healthcare Upstate.
IHA’s newsletter features highlights and updates on our advocacy efforts, programs & initiatives, United Iroquois Shared Services (UISS) group purchasing updates, what’s happening inside IHA, and a new series sharing insights from our CEOs. We hope you enjoy this edition!