Putnam approves $48,000 community health survey contract to inform county health planning

Putnam County’s Health, Social, Educational and Environmental committee approved funding to conduct the county’s next regional community health survey, contracting with the Siena College Research Institute for a scientifically sampled telephone survey intended to produce 600 responses and a margin of error of about ±4 percentage points.

Why it matters: the community health survey provides primary data for the county’s Community Health Assessment and subsequent Community Health Improvement Plan, allowing Putnam to track trends over time and compare county results to the Mid-Hudson region. The instrument covers health status, behaviors, quality-of-life measures and the ability of residents to meet basic needs such as childcare, housing and transportation.

Allison Coffey, the county epidemiologist, told the committee the survey instrument was developed regionally and has been used in earlier rounds (2018 and 2022), allowing year-to-year and regional comparisons. County staff said Siena uses professional interviewers in a call-center environment and monitors sampling so final data can be weighted to be representative of Putnam County.

The committee approved contracting with Siena for the survey (county staff cited an estimated cost of about $48,000 for a 600-response sample). County finance staff and the health department structured the action so it had zero fiscal impact on the county budget: the funding sources include a public health performance incentive allocation (about $23,286), carryover adolescent tobacco enforcement fines (TUPA) and a partial offset from two vacant nursing positions (fund balance within budget lines) to make up the remainder. The county finance presenter said the total reallocated appropriation amounted to roughly $24,700 from those lines, producing a net zero fiscal impact.

Committee members asked whether the sample could be subdivided for town-level comparisons (east vs. west side). Epidemiology staff said that increasing granularity requires larger sample sizes and higher contract cost (staff cited that increasing the sample to 800 responses would materially raise the price and quoted a prior figure of roughly $60,000 for a larger sample). Staff recommended the standard 600-sample regional design for county-level and demographic subgroup analysis while noting smaller-area comparisons reduce statistical confidence.

Deliverables from Siena will include question-level results, demographic cross-tabs (age, gender, income, veteran status and other subpopulations) and regional benchmarks. The committee approved the contract and the reallocation of county funds to make the measure fiscally neutral.

What’s next: the health department will finalize survey questions (with limited tweaks allowed), execute the contract with Siena, and proceed with telephone-based data collection; final results will support the county’s community health assessment and grant or program planning.