Increasing Access to Primary Care in Niagara Falls

A 2008 study by HMS Associates found that negative health status and health service use indicators for the city of Niagara Falls were at least 25% higher than those of Niagara County overall and significantly higher than those of western and upstate New York.

Furthermore, the emergency department visit rate for Niagara Falls was 27% higher than the rate for the western New York region, and the hospitalization rate for African-American patients was 162% higher than the State normative rate. Most of the city’s emergency department patients were uninsured or covered by Medicaid and did not have access to a federally qualified health center (FQHC), as none existed in Niagara County. In response, Community Health Care Association of New York State secured a federal planning grant to assess the needs of residents in Niagara and Chautauqua counties. The planning grant determined that establishing safety-net primary care was a priority for Niagara Falls. The organizations involved in the planning process responded by asking the Community Health Center of Buffalo (CHCB) to open a FQHC site in Niagara Falls. To expand access to health care services, NYHealth awarded a grant to CHCB to establish an FQHC site in Niagara Falls.