[VIDEO & PHOTOS BY JDN IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Westchester Medical Center and the Bon Secours Charity Health System (BSCHS) announced a ground-breaking commitment to high-quality care as close to home as possible for the people of the Hudson Valley.

“A Joint Venture with Westchester Medical Center represents an unparalleled opportunity to enhance the quality of services for the people in the region and will preserve and expand local health care,” said Mark Nantz, Executive Vice President of Bon Secours Health System.  “The challenges of today’s healthcare environment require that healthcare systems explore innovative ways to deliver high-quality care through clinical transformation and population health management.  We believe this joint venture will achieve the best for both our organizations.”

“Westchester Medical Center’s historic mission has been to ensure that all the residents of the Hudson Valley have the finest healthcare available as close to home as possible,” said Michael D. Israel, President and CEO of Westchester Medical Center.  “Our focus remains protecting the valued local healthcare services that the residents of this region have come to expect and deserve and, with our clinical and operational acumen, further strengthen local programs and offerings in the community, which started with our partnership with MidHudson Regional Hospital last year.”

WMC Board Chair Mark Tulis said that these actions are part of a long-term, broad strategic planning effort to invest in the Hudson Valley.  “The Hudson Valley is our home and our commitment continues to be making sure that our friends and neighbors have access to the best care right here, without having to leave the region.  Our vision is to build on Bon Secours’ strong foundation, enhance what is available and foster integration and coordination, which will ensure the long-term viability of these partners and more,” Tulis added.

Mary Leahy, M.D., CEO of Bon Secours Charity Health System said a joint venture such as this one is “transformative and will allow our organizations to thrive in a climate of change.  We  share a common vision of clinical and operational excellence and a keen desire to maintain the long-held mission of Bon Secours and the Sisters of Charity.”

A Bon Secours Charity joint venture, with management from Westchester Medical Center and certain continued services from Bon Secours Health System, will improve and sustain high- quality, compassionate healthcare through population health management with special emphasis on care for the most vulnerable.

Israel and Leahy added that Bon Secours is already a major force in Westchester Medical Center’s current partnership with more than 250 local organizations and 5,000 individual providers as part of an integrated delivery system that will improve care coordination and focus on the specific health care problems faced by the low-income populations in the area.

“We are also pleased at this time to introduce WMCHealth, the Westchester Medical Center Health Network.  WMCHealth unifies all of our well-known brands across our region with a new identity, sending a clear message about the strength and scale of our new organization, one uniquely centered on the residents of the Hudson Valley,” Israel said.

“Based on a decade of positive performance at the Medical Center, the return to fiscal stability at MidHudson Regional Hospital in Poughkeepsie in its first year aligned with WMC, and our significant profile in New York State’s DSRIP program, we believe our growing network is well positioned to thrive.”

Tulis said, “Westchester Medical Center was born and raised, so to speak, in the Hudson Valley, and now we are reshaping health care here.  We take our responsibility to the healthcare and economic fabric of the region very seriously, and our commitment to ensure that we all have the finest care available here in the Hudson Valley has never been stronger.”

Spanning every adult and pediatric medical specialty, Westchester Medical Center is the 895- bed regional medical organization serving New York’s Hudson Valley region and beyond, encompassing a regional academic medical center, children’s hospital, community hospital, two inpatient behavioral health centers, homecare and numerous outpatient health and related services.  Well-known for its advanced medical care in trauma and burn, heart, transplant, neuroscience, cancer and pediatrics at our Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, today Westchester Medical Center is home to a workforce of more than 7,000, with more than 1,200 attending physicians–the only facility capable of providing immediate lifesaving advanced care between New York City and Albany. Westchester Medical Center serves as a lifeline for more than 3.5 million people in the Hudson Valley region and provides outstanding care to more than 120,000 children and adults every year.

(YWN Monsey Newsroom)