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Date Published: Thursday, September 8, 2016
Date Updated: Monday, July 18, 2022

Frequently Asked Questions: Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) and HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley Announce Plans to Transform Healthcare in Ulster County

Frequently Asked Questions: Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) and HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley Announce Plans to Transform Healthcare in Ulster County

Q. What are the details of the project?

A. HealthAlliance Hospital: Mary’s Avenue Campus will undergo a 70,000-square-foot renovation and a new, 110,000-square-foot bed tower addition will be constructed to accommodate all inpatient medical services currently located there and HealthAlliance Hospital: Broadway Campus. The HealthAlliance Hospital will include a new main entrance and lobby, emergency center, endoscopy center, same-day surgery suite, medical imaging center, birthing center, intensive care unit, medical-surgical floors and hospital pharmacy.

All diagnostic and surgical services in the new hospital will be strategically located to maximize efficiency and promote quality outcomes and patient safety. There will also be a separate ambulance entrance away from the main entrance to provide patient privacy. Additionally, the new main entrance will provide ample space for vehicles to drop off and pick up patients with adequate parking onsite.

Q. What will the new bed tower include?

A. The bed tower will consist of four floors and will add 110,000 square feet to the existing 327,000-square-foot hospital and house the new emergency center, endoscopy center, intensive care unit and medical-surgical floors. Of the 201 total beds in the hospital, 141 of them will be private.

There will be sound-absorbing features in patient care corridors, including acoustical ceiling tiles and a quiet nurse-call system to promote a private, tranquil environment.

Q. Why does another facility need to be built at the Mary’s Avenue Campus?

A. As is, neither of the Kingston hospitals can accommodate all of the current services. Of the two campuses, Mary’s Avenue is the best option for expansion in terms of construction and services to provide a better patient experience. Additionally, this consolidation will allow us to establish a “medical village” at the Broadway Campus, all of which is part of our Healthy Neighborhood Initiative collaborate with the City of Kingston. Learn more by visiting http://www.hahv.org/state-endorses-healthalliance-plans-awards-88-8-million-toward-capital-projects/

Q. What is a “medical village?”

A. A medical village is a convenient, integrated primary care and outpatient destination for medical services in a “one stop” location, providing easy and open access to medical care and services. The medical village will focus on wellness and community services to support population health through innovative approaches. In this case, it will be a neighborhood focal point, where HealthAlliance, WMCHealth and community partners will offer primary care, behavioral health and other support services, including retail, educational programs, community events and transportation.

Q. What is the projected cost for the project?

A. The project is anticipated to cost a total of $133.6 million over five years. Phase One of the project, the construction and renovation at Mary’s Avenue Campus, will cost $112 million. While not finalized, Phase Two, the medical village at the Broadway Campus, is expected to cost $21.6 million.

Q. How can we pay for all of these improvements?

A. Earlier this year, New York State announced nearly $1.2 billion in healthcare awards for hospitals and health systems in New York. HealthAlliance received a grant award of $88.8 million for the Kingston campuses, which are critical to the continued provision of healthcare services in the community. WMCHealth, HealthAlliance and a capital campaign will support the cost balance.

Q. Why did the projects change?

A. When the single-campus hospital was initially planned, HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley was still a standalone health system. Now that HealthAlliance is affiliated with and has the support of WMCHealth, we are able to develop a project that is more substantial and better suited to the needs of the community. Economies of scale are better as part of a network, plus the partnership enables HealthAlliance to work with WMCHealth’s strategic partners, like healthcare technology leader, Philips.

Q. What is the expected project timeframe?

A. Construction for phase one is expected to start in fall of 2017 and completed about two years later. Plans for Phase Two will be finalized by the end of 2016. The entire project is expected to be completed within five years.

Q. What happens to HealthAlliance programs and services?

A. WMCHealth will continue its commitment to retain already provided services at HealthAlliance locations, enhance and strengthen many offerings that currently exist and expand advanced services not currently available at HealthAlliance facilities.

Q. How will Kingston and the surrounding communities benefit from the new hospital?

A. The construction and renovations to HealthAlliance Hospital: Mary’s Avenue Campus will create a hospital of the size, importance and influence that will meet the needs of our community and ensure that the residents in our region have access to the highest level of care, as close to home as possible. By investing in and modernizing equipment we will provide the best patient experience. Additionally, the new facility will attract top doctors and staff to deliver the best practices of medicine.

The community also will benefit from WMCHealth’s new e-Health initiative, which uses the latest technologies to connect clinical expertise among all of our network partners in eight counties. Through a strategic network partnership with healthcare technology leader, Philips, patients will receive care from doctors and specialists in other locations without the patient having to travel to visit them. It even lets healthcare professionals in multiple locations share information and discuss patient issues as if they were in the same room. It’s been successfully used to save lives in critical care and emergency situations.

Q. What is WMCHealth?

A. The Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) is a 1,700-bed healthcare system headquartered in Valhalla, New York, with 10 hospitals on seven campuses spanning 6,200 square miles of the Hudson Valley. WMCHealth employs more than 12,000 people and has nearly 3,000 attending physicians. From Level 1, Level 2 and Pediatric Trauma Centers, the region’s only acute care children’s hospital, an academic medical center, several community hospitals, dozens of specialized institutes and centers, skilled nursing, assisted living facilities, homecare services and one of the largest mental health systems in New York State, today WMCHealth is the pre-eminent provider of integrated healthcare in the Hudson Valley. For more information about WMCHealth, visit www.WMCHealth.org.

Q. What is HealthAlliance?

A. HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley® is the alignment of HealthAlliance Hospital: Mary’s Avenue Campus and Broadway Campus in Kingston and Margaretville Hospital and Mountainside Residential Care Center in Margaretville. As the parent organization with a unified governance structure, the goal of HealthAlliance is to strengthen the quality of care and bring forward enhanced technology to serve the present and future healthcare needs in the Hudson Valley. HealthAlliance and its affiliate facilities are committed to providing compassionate, patient-centered care and to ensuring patient safety, privacy and dignity to all. For further information about HealthAlliance, visit our website at www.hahv.org.

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