Medina hospital approved for $6.2 million from state for capital projects, debt restructuring

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 March 2016 at 12:00 am

NY also awards $105,000 grant to Community Health Center

File photo by Tom River – Medina Memorial Hospital has been approved for state funding for capital projects.

MEDINA – Orleans Community Health, parent organization of Medina Memorial Hospital, has been approved for $6,275,528 from the state for “essential capital projects” and debt restructuring.

The funding was announced today, part of $1.5 billion for 162 health-related projects state-wide.

“The Orleans County Legislature couldn’t be more pleased with Governor Cuomo’s decision to make such a significant investment in our community hospital,” said Lynne Johnson, Orleans County Legislature vice chairwoman and also a member of the hospital’s board of directors. “Orleans Community Health is such a vital part of the Orleans County health system. Our county is a medically underserved area and such a substantial investment by the state helps to keep our system sustainable and couldn’t come at a more crucial time.”

Oak Orchard Health, a community health center, has several healthcare sites, including in Albion, Lyndonville, Brockport, Warsaw and Hornell. Oak Orchard was approved for a $105,000 grant to “create integrated delivery systems that are focused on evidence-based medicine/population health management, and create a medical village using existing hospital infrastructure.”

Governor Cuomo said the state funding will dramatically transform and improve the delivery of health care in the state.

“We have a responsibility to continue to make critical capital and infrastructure improvements that transform our health care system into one of sustainability with a deep focus on improving patient care and delivery of vital services,” Cuomo said. “This funding allows them to do just that and is yet another example of how New York is leading the nation in adapting to meet 21st century health care needs.”

The awards are being made through the Capital Restructuring Financing Program and Essential Health Care Provider Support Program, according to a news release from the governor’s office. Both were created by Cuomo to support the goals of the Delivery System Reform Incentive Program, the main mechanism for investing the $7.3 billion in Medicaid savings that resulted from the groundbreaking waiver between New York and the federal government in 2014.

The goals of DSRIP include reducing health care costs, improving the health of New Yorkers, reducing avoidable hospital admissions and emergency room visits by 25 percent by 2020, and ensuring the financial sustainability of safety net health care providers, Cuomo’s office said.