The HCHN has been in existence since 1990. Its membership has continuously expanded and has served as an effective forum for Herkimer County providers to identify, discuss, and resolve health and social service issues and concerns.
As a direct result of grants by the New York State Department of Health: Office of Rural Health, the Network significantly increased levels of coordination and collaboration among health and social service providers.
The grants have enabled the Network to complete several needs assessments and identify priorities requiring the collective attention of the Network and its participating providers. These collaborative efforts yielded sufficient evidence of the value of the Network allowing it to seek implementation funding to move from a consortium of providers to a more formal network in December of 1998.