LETTER FROM CEO AND BOARD CHAIR
Anne Kauffman Nolon, MPH
Chief Executive Officer
Sun River Health
John Russell Chair of the Board of Directors
Sun River Health
Dear Friends,
As we look back on our first fifty years of service from this moment of unique turmoil and uncertainty, we are compelled to remember that Sun River Health was made for times like these.
Our community health center was founded to provide quality health care to everyone who needs it, regardless of their background or income. Since the day we opened the doors of the Peekskill Area Health Center in 1975, we have done three things with incredible consistency: adapt, grow, and hold fast.
We have adapted to incredible national crises, from economic recessions to COVID-19. We have grown from one health center to fifty, including mobile health centers that serve each region and meet patients where they are.
And through all the changes that have made the world so different than it was before the internet, before cell phones—before telemedicine left science fiction and became part of daily life—we have held fast to the mission our four Founding Mothers set before us, with the vision and wisdom we have come to cherish more and more over the decades.
Our patients have been at the center of all we do since the beginning. This has not changed—nor will it in our next fifty years of service.
Today, we face new challenges in a world and circumstance you know as well as we do. We look forward with clear eyes and full hearts, knowing that even though the challenges are great, our mission empowers us to meet and overcome them.
With your continued partnership, we have no doubt, only conviction.
Thank you for being part of this journey with us as we continue to build healthier, stronger communities for all.
Sincerely,
Anne Kauffman Nolon, MPH Chief Executive Officer
Sun River Health
John Russell Chair of the Board of Directors
Sun River Health
Board Officers
John Russell Board Chair
Hon. Alan Steiner Past Board Chair
Aubrey Saunders Vice Chairperson
Norma Johnson Vice Chairperson
Andrew Richter, PhD Treasurer
Marcia Jacobowitz-Paz, Esq. Vice Chairperson
Luke Hilpert, Esq. Secretary
Board Members
Robert Heatley Gabriela Vega Matthews Charles Miller
Sandra Cuellar Oxford Michael Smith
Charlene Butterfield
Berthilde Dufrene Angela Earl Maria Louisa Gutierrez
Deeptha Nedunchezian
MISSION AND VISION
The story of Sun River Health began in 1975 when four African American mothers led efforts to open our first health center in Peekskill, New York to deliver accessible, high-quality health care to everyone in the community. Today, after 50 years of service, Sun River Health has grown into a network of 50 community health centers, providing comprehensive primary and preventive health care to over 250,000 patients throughout the Hudson Valley, New York City, and Long Island. With a dedicated staff of nearly 2,000 doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals, we are one of the largest community health centers in the country.
At Sun River Health, we pride ourselves on increasing access to high-quality, affordable health care and improving the health status of our communities, especially for the underserved and vulnerable. As we look to the future, we will continue to deliver on the promise of our Founding Mothers by providing access to our award-winning care in even more communities across lower New York State.
Kenneth Sax, FNP
Health care is a right for all, and not just a privilege for some. “ ”
The Founding Mothers Willie Mae Jackson, Pearl Woods, Rev. Jeannette J. Phillips, and Mary Woods, and CEO Anne Kauffman Nolon, MPH
SERVICES
Primary care / family medicine
Dental
Women's health / OB-GYN
Behavioral / mental health
Pediatrics
Podiatry
Optometry
Urgent Care
Substance use disorder services (including MAT)
Adult day health care
Sexual health
HIV and hepatitis care and prevention
Nutrition
Benefits counseling
Care coordination and management
All patient photography is of Sun River Health patients.
Our patient populations include:
2023 data according to the Health Resources and Services Administration Uniform Data System. Total patients 250,000 Agricultural workers 10,000 Unhoused individuals 17,000+
Individuals living with HIV 2,800 Welcomed 3,500 newborns Public housing residents 24,000
Individuals at or below the poverty line 94% Individuals being treated for substance use disorder 4,800+ Veterans 7,000
PATIENT Demographics
PATIENTS Race / Ethnicity
STAFF Race / Ethnicity
Mohammad M. Rahman, MD and patients
PATIENT Visits
by Service
RECOGNITIONS
OUR NETWORK
Community Health Action of Staten Island
Emerging from the AIDS crisis of the 1990s, Community Health Action of Staten Island (CHASI) delivers a model of care that drives dramatic improvements in the health of their clients. CHASI serves communities across Staten Island with a wide range of services, including domestic violence interventions, care for people with multiple chronic health conditions, and substance use disorder treatment services, as well as operates a community food pantry in Port Richmond. Additionally, CHASI provides HIV and hepatitis C screenings, insurance enrollment, help with SNAP (food stamps) benefits, and health screenings.
Caribbean Women’s Health Association
Caribbean Women’s Health Association (CWHA) was founded in 1982 to provide high-quality, comprehensive, culturally appropriate health, immigration, and social support services to women from the Caribbean community in New York City. CWHA strongly relies on community involvement in planning, implementation, and evaluation of programs that meet the health and social support needs of the individuals they serve.
OUR AFFILIATE PARTNERS
The Warwick Area Farmworker Organization
The Warwick Area Farmworker Organization (WAFO) is a division of the Warwick Area Migrant Committee that provides educational enrichment and health care support services to the migrant farmworker population in Orange County. With a belief that farmworkers and their families play a vital role in the community, WAFO upholds that the children of farmworkers deserve quality education and a safe place to stay while their parents are working. Every summer, WAFO runs a Summer Enrichment Program that provides educational opportunities to the children of farmworkers in a safe, nurturing environment.
The Preservation Company
The Preservation Company is a nonprofit organization founded by Sun River Health in 1987 to help address the housing crisis in Westchester County. A longstanding resource in Peekskill and the surrounding communities, The Preservation Company provides access to affordable housing and other critical supports to families on their journey toward housing stability. With the acknowledgement that housing directly affects health care access, The Preservation Company has been a steadfast partner of Sun River Health for nearly 40 years.
TIMELINE
1975
1978
1981
1983
1987
1989
The Peekskill Area Health Center, later known as Hudson River Health Care, opens, providing primary care, dental, and women’s health services.
Through a network model with sister community health centers, Department of Health Education and Welfare (later known has Health and Human Services) funds are received for the first time.
The health center purchases space at 1037 Main Street in downtown Peekskill.
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is introduced.
The Preservation Company is incorporated in order to provide housing assistance to health center patients and other community members in need.
Funding received specifically for migrant agricultural workers for the first time, leading The Alamo Community Center in Goshen for agricultural workers and their families, along with the adjacent health center, to join Hudson River Health Care.
Hudson River Health Care opens sites in Beacon and New Paltz, and HELP / PSI is formed in New York City to provide HIV / AIDS care and substance use disorder services.
The Peekskill census tract formally receives designation as a “Medically Underserved Area”.
Hudson River Health Care formally becomes affiliated with Planetree International, the leading organization in person-centered cultural transformation for health care organizations.
HELP / PSI introduces adult day health care services in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens to provide health and recovery services for individuals living with HIV.
Hudson River Health Care opens their first health center in Poughkeepsie at the Family Partnership Center.
2000
2003
2007
2008
The Wallkill Valley Community Health Center in Walden joins Hudson River Health Care.
Hudson River Health Care opens a site in Greenport as the first community health center in Suffolk County, with special programs that bring care to agricultural workers in the area. Similar agricultural worker programs are expanded in Columbia and Dutchess Counties.
Hudson River Health Care opens a health center in Haverstraw, expanding care to Rockland County.
Hudson River Health Care opens two health centers in Yonkers. 2010
NUMC / LIFQHC joins Hudson River Health Care as a subrecipient with locations in Nassau County.
2012
Hudson River Health Care is invited to assume operations of the Suffolk County Department of Health clinics, including the Elsie Owens Community Health Center in Coram, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Health Center in Wyandanch, and the Kraus Family Community Health Center in Southampton.
2015
HELP / PSI rebrands as Brightpoint Health, and Community Health Action of Staten Island becomes an affiliate. 2018
The organizations formerly known as Hudson River Health Care and Brightpoint Health merge to form one new organization, providing care across the Hudson Valley, New York City, and Long Island.
2020
The newly united organization rebrands as Sun River Health. Critical services are provided during the COVID-19 pandemic. 2024
Sun River Health becomes the first community health center to be awarded Gold Certification for Excellence in Person-Centered Care by Planetree International. 2025
Sun River Health celebrates 50 years of providing patients with the care they need and the respect they deserve.
“When we utter words like 'health care is a right for all, and not just a privilege for some,' at the end of the day, it makes for a better community. And a better nation. And this is where the struggle still lies. But it can be overcome”
- Rev. Jeannette J. Phillips