Medina Memorial will affiliate with Catholic Health

Posted 10 June 2014 at 12:00 am

Press release, Orleans Community Health and Catholic Health

MEDINA – In an effort to enhance healthcare delivery in Orleans County and expand access to care for residents throughout the region, Orleans Community Health/Medina Memorial Hospital has approved an affiliation agreement with Catholic Health, based in Buffalo.

The affiliation will strengthen healthcare services in Orleans County, while giving residents greater access to medical specialists and advanced medical and surgical services.

“With the changes we are experiencing in healthcare, it was clear we needed to align our hospital with a larger health system that could support and strengthen the services we offer in Orleans County,” said Dolores Horvath, President and CEO of Orleans Community Health/Medina Memorial Hospital. “We considered several options from Rochester to Buffalo and Catholic Health was the best fit for our organization. Catholic Health and its leadership team have a genuine interest in our success, as well as the depth of resources and uncompromising commitment to quality we were looking for in an affiliation partner.”

The purpose of the affiliation is to ensure that individuals and families throughout Orleans County continue to have access to high quality, affordable healthcare services. Catholic Health will help Medina Memorial gain operational efficiencies and support the hospital’s physician recruitment efforts. Plans are already underway to expand cardiology services at Medina Memorial Hospital with a cardiac specialist from Catholic Health.

“We understand the challenges rural hospitals face and believe patients should have equal access to care regardless of where they live,” said Joe McDonald, President and CEO of Catholic Health. “Our goal is to earn the trust of the residents of Orleans County by first helping to strengthen healthcare services in the local community, and then, when needed, by improving access specialty services, like advanced cardiac, stroke, orthopedic and vascular care.”

The Orleans Community Health Board of Directors will retain governance responsibility for Medina Memorial Hospital and the Orleans Community Health Center in Albion.

“This affiliation gives us the best opportunity to continue serving the community, while ensuring that area residents have access to health services not available in Orleans County,” said Bruce Krenning, chairman of the Orleans Community Health/Medina Memorial Hospital Board of Directors.

Catholic Health has similar affiliation agreements with Bertrand Chaffee Hospital in Springville and Mount St. Mary’s Hospital in Niagara Falls, which recently announced plans to formally join Catholic Health.