Northwell Signs Clinical Affiliation with Crouse Health in Syracuse

As part of the new relationship, Crouse becomes a strategic partner with Northwell as the health system seeks to establish a presence in upstate New York and identify other opportunities to fill the critical health needs of the 15-county area served by Crouse in Central and Northern New York. Established in 1887, Crouse is a 506-bed, non-profit, community hospital serving more than 23,000 inpatients, 82,000 emergency patients and more than 250,000 outpatients annually. Crouse is one of Central New York's 10 largest employers, with a workforce of 3,300 employees between two hospitals, a combined medical staff of more than 900 physicians and multiple primary care sites.  Crouse Health already has an affiliation with Community Memorial Hospital in Hamilton, NY – a relationship that is expected to be enhanced under the Crouse/Northwell agreement

"Over the past two years as we have worked to keep Crouse strong and strategically-positioned for the dynamic environment we are in, we have been engaged in numerous discussions with multiple organizations, both locally and regionally," said Crouse Health CEO and President Kimberly Boynton. "Among the key criteria our board, physician leadership and senior leadership team used to evaluate potential partners was a strong alignment and compatibility with the Crouse culture as well as our mission, which is to provide the best in patient care and promote community health. This was a thoughtful and focused process, and we were steadfast that whichever partner we chose to align with had to be in sync not only with our mission, but with our core values. We have that in Northwell."

"Northwell Health is thrilled by the opportunity to partner with Crouse Health. Working together, our goal is to provide Crouse Health with the expertise to prosper in this incredibly complex health care environment, and collaborate with the hospital to help improve the health of Central New York residents, which is at the heart of our mission in the New York metropolitan area," said Michael J. Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health, which includes 21 hospitals and more than 550 outpatient facilities in the New York metropolitan area. "For Northwell, this collaboration creates a key strategic alliance in a major upstate hub with a high-quality, financially stable, mission-focused provider that has relationships with numerous other hospitals in the region."

Crouse is the region's largest provider of maternity care, delivering 4,000 babies annually, and is a state-designated regional referral center for high-risk neonatal intensive care services. The hospital also operates one of the nation's largest, most-established ambulatory surgery programs in the US, with two major surgery centers – the first opened in 1976 -- near the hospital's main hospital complex, including a three-story, 90,000-square-foot facility with 18 operating rooms that opened in in 2010.  The hospital's combined inpatient, outpatient and ambulatory surgical volume is more than 17,000 procedures annually. Other clinical specialties include comprehensive diagnostic and interventional cardiac care (including the region's only pediatric cardiac catheterization program), neurosciences/ stroke and cancer care. The hospital also operates the Pomeroy College of Nursing, providing critical nursing education to more than 300 students annually. 

As part of this new relationship, Northwell will assist Crouse in expanding its primary care network, and help develop care management programs and other services that will position the hospital and its affiliates to meet the challenges of population health. Northwell will also assist Crouse with group purchasing, physician recruitment, quality improvement initiatives, the possible creation of urgent care centers, and the sharing of other best practices to increase clinical and operational efficiencies, and improve patient safety and the overall patient experience.

"Our partnership with Northwell only helps strengthen Crouse's clinically integrated health network and we are excited about the potential this affiliation will have – not only for both partners, but for the region as well," said Crouse Chief Medical Officer Seth Kronenberg, MD, adding that telemedicine and population health are two critical areas Northwell and Crouse will be evaluating. In addition, sharing 'best practices' across the two organizations – clinical and operational – and taking advantage of other economies of scale will be a focus of the affiliation as planning moves forward, he said.

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About Northwell Health
Northwell Health is New York State's largest health care provider and private employer, with 21 hospitals and over 550 outpatient facilities. We care for more than two million people annually in the metro New York area and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Our 61,000 employees – 15,000+ nurses and nearly 3,400 physicians, including nearly 2,700 members of Northwell Health Physician Partners -- are working to change health care for the better. We're making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institute. We're training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine and the School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. And we offer health insurance through CareConnect. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu.

About Crouse Health
Crouse Health is a leading regional healthcare provider and a top 10 employer in Central New York, with 3,300 employees between two hospitals (Crouse and Community Memorial), a combined medical staff of over 900 physicians and multiple primary care sites. Crouse is Central New York's largest provider of maternity care services, delivering 4,000 babies annually, and is the designated regional referral center for high-risk neonatal intensive care services. Other areas of specialty include comprehensive diagnostic and interventional cardiac care (Crouse is home to CNY's only pediatric cardiac catheterization program); internal medicine; surgical services (including the latest advancements in bariatric, GYN oncology and robotic surgery); orthopedics; neurosciences/stroke care; oncology; and the region's only hospital-based chemical dependency treatment services for adolescents, adults and seniors. Crouse also operates the Pomeroy College of Nursing, providing critical nursing education to more than 300 students annually. For more information: Crouse.org

SOURCE Northwell Health

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