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Officials of Monroe County’s three largest hospitals said they are pleased despite the 2020 Commission’s recommendation that the state approve roughly half of the new beds the hospitals sought.
After five months of twice-weekly meetings, the commission voted Monday evening to recommend approval of 140 beds; the hospitals had applied for state Department of Health approval for 278 beds.
The commission recommended:
Hospital officials have said new beds are needed to alleviated a severe and growing overcrowding problem at their facilities, which are averaging higher than 100 percent occupancy rates. High occupancies show up as temporary “code red†emergency department shutdowns and force the hospitals to routinely stack patients awaiting admittance in hallways for overnight and longer stays.
One key to the hospital officials’ comfort with the recommendations: The commission also recommended the three hospitals also be allowed to build the ambitious additions they proposed.
Unity wants to add a new fourth floor. Rochester General and Strong Memorial each want to build new six-story towers.
The commission also recommends the state Health Department allow for a “flexibility†factor that would let the hospitals be approved on an expedited basis for extra beds if conditions warrant it.
As expected, the commission—convened in February by Finger Lakes Health System Agency—also recommended a formal affiliation between Lakeside Health System in Brockport and Unity Health System in Greece. Whether such a merger will come about remains to be seen.
Unity CEO Timothy McCormick said he is hopeful Unity and Lakeside could work productively toward an affiliation over the next few months.
But as reported Friday by Rochester Business Journal Daily Report, Lakeside CEO Kevin Nacy last week sent a memo to Lakeside Medical staff stating firm disapproval of any recommendation calling for integration of services with Unity. Nacy repeated Lakeside’s resolve to stay independent at a Saturday meeting, an attendee told the Rochester Business Journal on Monday.
Neither FLHSA nor the 2020 Commission has the power to force an affiliation, FLSHA executive director Fran Weisberg said.
The commission believes the affiliation is necessary because Lakeside Hospital’s 60 percent average occupancy rate puts it in danger of closing and because of Lakeside’s proximity to Unity Hospital, 2020 Commission chairman Stephen Ashley said.
McCormick said he favors an affiliation because Lakeside’s shutdown would tax the already overcrowded Unity Hospital to the breaking point.
Though Strong would not be affected by such an affiliation, University of Rochester Medical Center CEO Bradford Berk said URMC objected “on principle†to the recommendation because it is outside the scope of the authority of FLHSA or the 2020 Commission.
The 2020 Commission recommendations go to FLHSA, which over the next month plans to draft a report incorporating the 2020 findings in report to the state. The Health Department plans to evaluate the three hospital requests as a group and to say what beds it will authorize in early 2009.
In the meantime, the 2020 Commission also recommends a small number of new beds be immediately authorized for two hospitals—15 for Strong and two for Unity—and that Rochester General get an immediate OK to reactivate its unused beds.
Even with that measure, overcrowding will continue to pose problems into the future, hospital officials said.
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