The goal is to determine what is known and not known about the health status of citizens and availability of health care providers in the North Country, and then set priorities for filling the data gaps. Where it was possible to provide new data on the North Country related to health care, such data are provided. Policy Needs Drive Data Needs Public policy needs drive the need for data. There appear to be two primary data needs. First, it is important to target resources to where they are most needed. For this reason it is important to have comparable data on various parts of the state.