Westchester Med. President Michael Israel, left, and HealthAlliance President
David Scarpino, both seated, are pleased with the deal
KINGSTON – Westchester Medical Center Health Network and HealthAlliance Inc. signed a merger agreement Wednesday, at the Kingston facility, placing the local hospital under the Westchester Med management umbrella.
Both presidents, Michael Israel of Westchester Medical Health Network and David Scarpino of HealthAlliance, said the merger was amicable to both parties.
“There are hostile takeovers and there are friendly consolidations. We were invited here and we believe that this was in a whole bunch of people’s best interest,” said Israel.
WMC Health Network has controlling interest in the agreement but maintains that they are treating the situation collaboratively. HealthAlliance Hospital has become a subsidiary of WMC Health Network, but unlike MidHudson Regional Hospital in Poughkeepsie, the Kingston-based operation will keep its own license and at a “micro-level,” said Israel. The hospital will operate in the same manner with a functional board and management team. They have not been bought in the traditional sense of the term; money was not part of the transaction, Israel said.
“We are the owners; we are responsible for what goes on here but, we want to keep control and what goes on here as local as we possibly can; so that’s number one and number two, our ultimate goal is to develop additional services here so that patients in the past, who may have gone to Valhalla, or may have gone to Manhattan, or maybe went up to Albany, they can stay here and get their care here locally,” said Israel.
Scarpino said it was a good decision to make on behalf of the hospital and the patients it serves.
“We think it has a lot of benefits. It’ll help us to sustain the delivery of healthcare in the community; it will expand access, improve quality and also to move on innovation,” said Scarpino.
Both parties foresee the future of this merger being the starting point for bigger and better healthcare. Israel suggested the future bringing a separate in-patient facility, a medical village and a medical education system, brought about by the cooperation of local entities.
The Mary’s Avenue Campus will become the only hospital with the Broadway campus being converted into a “medical village” and the Margaretville serving critical access and skilled nursing services.
Mayor Steven Noble said the merger, coupled with recently announced $88.8 million from the state, “reflects a growing trend of investment in the Kingston community.” The merger, the mayor believes, “will benefit our community through improved access to medical care and community-based services, and by expanding the network of resources throughout the region.”
