Bon Secours Health System and Westchester Medical Center Sign Joint Venture

BON SECOURS

On Wednesday, Westchester Medical Center and the Bon Secours Charity Health System (BSCHS) announced a partnership sure to transform health care in Rockland County and the Hudson Valley.

“A joint venture with Westchester Medical Center represents an unparalleled opportunity to enhance the quality of services for the people in the region and will preserve and expand local health care,” said Mark Nantz, executive vice president of Bon Secours Health System, parent of Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern. “The challenges of today’s healthcare environment require that healthcare systems explore innovative ways to deliver high-quality care through clinical transformation and population health management. We believe this joint venture will achieve the best for both our organizations.”

“Westchester Medical Center’s historic mission has been to ensure that all the residents of the Hudson Valley have the finest healthcare available as close to home as possible,” said Michael D. Israel, president and CEO of Westchester Medical Center. “Our focus remains protecting the valued local healthcare services that the residents of this region have come to expect and deserve and, with our clinical and operational acumen, further strengthen local programs and offerings in the community, which started with our partnership with MidHudson Regional Hospital last year.”

Mary Leahy, M.D., CEO of Bon Secours Charity Health System said a joint venture such as this one is “transformative and will allow our organizations to thrive in a climate of change.  We share a common vision of clinical and operational excellence and a keen desire to maintain the long-held mission of Bon Secours and the Sisters of Charity.”

According to Dr. Leahy, Bon Secours Charity will remain a Catholic healthcare provider with Bon Secours Health System and the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth as corporate members with Bon Secours Ministries and with the Sisters of Charity as canonical sponsors.

A Bon Secours Charity joint venture, with management from Westchester Medical Center and certain continued services from Bon Secours Health System, will improve and sustain high quality, compassionate healthcare through population health management with special emphasis on care for the most vulnerable, she said.

Israel and Leahy added that Bon Secours is already a major force in Westchester Medical Center’s current partnership with more than 250 local organizations and 5,000 individual providers as part of an integrated delivery system that will improve care coordination and focus on the specific health care problems faced by the low-income populations in the area.

“We are also pleased at this time to introduce WMCHealth, the Westchester Medical Center Health Network.  WMCHealth unifies all of our well-known brands across our region with a new identity, sending a clear message about the strength and scale of our new organization, one uniquely centered on the residents of the Hudson Valley,” Israel said.

“Based on a decade of positive performance at the Medical Center, the return to fiscal stability at MidHudson Regional Hospital in Poughkeepsie in its first year aligned with WMC, and our significant profile in New York State’s DSRIP program, we believe our growing network is well positioned to thrive.”