Three small North Country hospitals have become affiliated with Crouse Hospital in Syracuse.
River Hospital, Carthage Area Hospital and Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center have all signed an affiliation agreement with Crouse. But Crouse CEO Kimberley Boynton says they will maintain independence and provide local service while getting much-needed support support and expertise.
“This is the future, and some areas are far head of us and where we are," Boynton said. "In central New York, we still have a large number of independent hospitals.”
Among other things, Boynton expects the affiliation to lead to telemedicine services and help recruit more physicians to these North Country communities. Crouse will also become more involved with the Fort Drum, and the affiliation will create more seamless transitions to health care in Syracuse if needed.
Crouse’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Seth Kronenberg says partnerships like this lets small hospitals cut costs and expand services, and are a growing trend at a challenging time in the world of health care.
“We're all facing decreasing reimbursements, decreasing reimbursements for hospitals, decreased support for taking care of underserved populations," Kronenberg said. "As these reimbursements go down we have to be more efficient, and size is an important factor.”