New York State Backs Safety Net Hospital Partnerships

The State of New York is investing in seven hospital partnerships across New York as part of its Healthcare Safety Net Transformation Program.
The announcement, made by Gov. Kathy Hochul, includes up to $188 million for Jamaica Hospital and Memorial Sloan Kettering to establish a “Comprehensive Cancer Care Center of Queens.”
The Healthcare Safety Net Transformation Program incentivizes partnership between safety net hospitals and healthcare organizations. The state is seeking to encourage partnerships that improve the resilience of safety net institutions by providing capital and operating support, in addition to required regulatory flexibility.
The state also has given preliminary approval for investing $142 million to support a partnership between St. Barnabas Hospital, Cityblock Health and Union Community Health Center, and to upgrade St. Barnabas’ Emergency Department in the Bronx. Plans include launching a value-based partnership to manage the complex health needs of approximately 35,000 Healthfirst members — 50 percent of whom have behavioral health needs.
St. Barnabas and Cityblock’s collaboration is focused on addressing social determinants of health—factors like access to healthcare, stable housing, healthy food, and transportation—that can significantly impact an individual’s health outcomes.
“The Bronx community we serve through our collaboration with St. Barnabas Hospital will benefit greatly from the state’s investment in both emergency department care as well as critical behavioral health and care management services. With the New York State Department of Health’s support, Cityblock and St. Barnabas will be able to focus on improving health outcomes for thousands of Bronx residents,” said Toyin Ajayi, M.D., CEO of Cityblock, in a statement.
In another of the partnerships, Glens Falls Hospital, in continued partnership with Albany Med Health System, will modernize the Glens Falls emergency department to improve care delivery and prepare for anticipated growth in emergency department utilization in the next 10 to 15 years. Glens Falls will work with community-based organizations to ensure patients discharged from the emergency department are connected to appropriate resources, including the integration of social workers into the discharge process. The project will include integration of Glens Falls Hospital into the Albany Med electronic medical record system and advanced stroke care for Glens Falls patients.
In June 2024, Kaleida Health and Brooks-TLC Health Systems agreed to build a new hospital in the Village of Fredonia in Chautauqua County, replacing the Brooks-TLC in the City of Dunkirk. In an expansion to this initial announcement, Kaleida Health will formalize partnerships with two additional rural hospitals in Western New York (Olean General Hospital and Bertrand Chaffee Hospital), and make critical infrastructure upgrades in these rural hospitals. Kaleida Health will modernize its electronic medical record system for its entire system to enable greater efficiency and improved continuity of care throughout Western New York.
Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital will partner with Westchester Community Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), to strengthen the hospital’s Maternal Child Health program and improve the quality of maternal health care in Westchester.
To improve the quality of and access to behavioral healthcare and reduce emergency department use in the North Country, UVM Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital will partner with Champlain Valley Family Center for Drug Treatment and Youth Services. The project also seeks to streamline and strengthen the financial sustainability of the UVM Alice Hyde Medical Center.
Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital will establish two distinct partnerships — one with an ambulance service and one with a specialty pharmacy. Through a partnership with Otsego County Ambulance Service, Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital will increase the availability of emergency transportation and upgrade communication infrastructure to improve efficiency across the whole Bassett Health Network.
“I visited nearly all these facilities, including St. Barnabas Hospital, the first hospital I visited as Health Commissioner, and I have seen firsthand the need for these partnerships,” said New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James V. McDonald, M.D., M.P.H., in a statement. “Safety net hospitals promote health equity and provide essential services to vulnerable communities. I thank Governor Hochul for her commitment to improving the health of all New Yorkers.”
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