POUGHKEEPSIE – Dutchess County has been awarded a $100,000 state grant to participate in a regional health care planning and development project with six other counties in the Hudson Valley Regional Health Officials’ Network.

With the grant, the counties, which also include Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester, will work on maternal child health, chronic disease and access to quality care.

Regional survey tools will be used by all seven counties to carry out detailed assessments of the health care system by healthcare providers and consumers. That will be followed by sessions being held to examine community health needs as well as the barriers to appropriate care, and to identify strategies and models for improving outcomes.