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Hospital hubbub

Brooks nears location decision, TLC merger

By the end of September, Brooks Memorial Hospital will have identified a location for its new facility.

In a meeting with the media Friday morning at the SUNY Fredonia technology incubator in Dunkirk, Mary E. LaRowe, president and chief executive officer of Brooks, said the new structure also is part of an efficiency plan between Brooks and TLC Health Network that needs to be completed with the state Health Department by March 2018. That is when state funding to assist with expense operations for both entities will run out.

“Our intent is to file the (Certificate of Need) application for the new hospital build by the end of the month,” LaRowe said. “With that being said, the site selection has to be identified.”

LaRowe then discussed a process of having an integrated delivery system between Brooks and TLC as one entity by January. That plan includes having Brooks deliver in-patient acute care services while TLC becomes an ambulatory care facility that also deals with specialty services of chemical dependency and behavioral health — both on an in-patient and out-patient basis. This effort would occur through the Kaleida Health Network, of which Brooks is currently an affiliate.

“Where we’ve been headed … is looking operationally and organizationally to make sure that we are putting efficiencies in place that allow us to continue to provide the care needed by the community,” she said.

It is not the first time the two have attempted to join forces. In 2008, the Lake Erie Regional Health System of New York put both hospitals under one umbrella, but efficiencies never materialized and led to major million-dollar deficits for Brooks and bankruptcy for TLC.

The process of finding a new site has taken longer than originally planned. Last September, Brooks officials met with community members to seek out potential sites for the new facility. Within the next 30 days, 24 locations were presented. That number has since been whittled down to two.

While not disclosing where those two sites are, Chris Lanski, Brooks board chairman, indicated a high traffic and visibility area is important as is proximity to the New York State Thruway and Route 60. Lanski also noted access, convenience, infrastructure and regulatory concerns are being considered. “It needs to be nearby to shopping, restaurants and businesses … where all our patients work and shop,” he said. “We have two campuses, so the service providers are going to need to move back and forth … so it needs to be convenient for them as well.”

For many in the community, the idea of relocating from the current Sixth Street and Central Avenue site in Dunkirk is met with criticism. However, Brooks officials — and those from Kaleida who attended the meeting — said this opportunity to build a $71 million facility with state funding that has already been approved is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

“There’s not a community this side of New York City that the state has invested this type of money into to build a new hospital, said Michael P. Hughes, senior vice president of public affairs and marketing for Kaleida Health. “Building new hospitals only happens once or twice a year across the entire state. … So the state of New York is believing in Dunkirk saying, ‘We can rebuild the health care system here and make it better.’ ”

Brooks’ new facility will decrease in-patient beds to 29 from the current 65, which is part of the changing landscape of health care. Currently, LaRowe says, the average daily census ranges from 18 to 22.

Officials also agreed that the state-of-the-art high tech facility will appeal much greater to new doctors than the current site. “You bring a doctor who has worked with bells and whistles in the residency to an old building is a very difficult sell, so absolutely this will be a huge recruitment tool,” LaRowe said.

In relocating, it leaves a huge question mark for the current city location. Hughes said this would be the fourth time Kaleida has been involved in a relocation and each time the community and municipal officials have been involved in the process. “We need to get the conversation started,” Hughes said.

Send comments to jdagostino@observertoday.com

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