Taking Action With Rural Suicide - OBserver

In 2024, Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed legislation that would have created a Rural Suicide Prevention Council to address increasing rates of suicide in rural counties.

The reason for the veto, you may ask? Money and concerns about duplication. Those were unconvincing reasons in 2024. If the reintroduced legislation passes the state Legislature during this session, Hochul should correct her mistake and sign the legislation into law.

All one needs to do is look at the increased rates of rural suicide to see that existing state efforts wouldn’t be duplicative since they rarely make much of a dent in rural areas under the current system. According to the 2026 Chautauqua Opportunities Inc. Community Needs Assessment, the age-adjusted rate of hospitalization for self-inflicted wounds is 8.5 per 10,000 people in the county compared to 5.6 per 10,000 statewide. The hospitalization rate for self-inflicted injuries is even greater for those aged 15-19 in the county, with that rate being 24.4 per 10,000 in comparison to the statewide rate of 13.7 per 10,000. Finally, the assessment stated that the mortality rate for suicides in the county is 12.9 per 100,000 individuals, compared to 9.7 per 100,000 for the state.

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