The Adirondack Rural Health Network
Service Area and Community

The Adirondack Rural Health Network (ARHN) serves communities primarily located within New York State's Adirondack Region. The Network service area encompasses the entirety of Fulton, Hamilton, Warren and Washington counties; the southern portion of Essex County and the northern portion of Saratoga County. This rural/frontier area falls largely within the Blue Line, the boundary that defines New York State's six million acre Adirondack Park, which includes a constitutionally protected forest preserve of approximately 2.3 millions acres.

The Adirondack Rural Health Network (ARHN) encompasses a 4,300 square mile region in northeastern New York with natural boundaries on three sides: to the east, the Vermont border; to the north, the Adirondack High Peaks; and to the west, the Great Sacandaga Lake and the Siamese Ponds Wilderness Area. At the southern tip there is a jagged municipal boundary with the City of Saratoga Springs. Political subdivisions include all of Hamilton, Warren and Washington counties, the towns of Crown Point, Minerva, Moriah, North Hudson, Schroon and Ticonderoga in Essex County, and the towns of Corinth, Day, Edinburg, Hadley, and Northumberland in northern Saratoga County. The entire rural/frontier area is characterized by a Medically Underserved Area, Medically Underserved Population, Health Professional Shortage area, and/or a combination of the three. The entire rural/frontier community is also designated as a Low-Income Dental Health Professional Area.

According to the 2000 Census, the ARHN service area has 162,000 year-round residents. Of this population, more than 100,000 live in deeply rural areas, widely dispersed among the outlying villages, hamlets, and mountain roads. Many area residents live in geographically isolated communities as indicated by the frontier status of Hamilton County and the three Essex County towns of Minerva, North Hudson, and Newcomb. The population per square mile in these communities range 1.4 to 5.9, compared to a national threshold definition of 7.0 population per square mile.

At the southern terminus of the Network's service area is the City of Glens Falls as well as the surrounding towns in southern Warren County, northern Saratoga County and central and western Washington County. These communities are demographically and epidemiologically similar to rural and frontier communities. The region-wide population is overwhelming white, English-Speaking, poor (97% white; 12% below Federal poverty levels and 31% below 200% of the poverty) and under-educated (20% of adults have not completed high school). By lifecycle, the population under 16 accounts for 20% of the population; adults (17-64) comprise 61% and the elderly (65+) 16%. Nearly one in eight of the service area population (12%) is Medicaid eligible. Per capita income for the service area is $16,880 (Census 2000).

Manufacturing, retail trade, and service related industries represent the mainstays of the economy. Employment is mostly in the fields of tourism, paper and pulp industry, light manufacturing, and small family farms.