Northwell Ventures, the consulting division of Great Neck, N.Y.-based Northwell Health, recently released a report that includes a rescue plan for Brooklyn's distressed community hospitals.
In 2015, the State of New York allocated $700 million to overhaul the healthcare delivery system in Brooklyn, N.Y. In early 2016, the state awarded a grant to Northwell Ventures to prepare a feasibility and sustainability study to identify ways to improve the quality of healthcare in central and northeastern Brooklyn.
Northwell's recently released report primarily focuses on four financially troubled hospitals in Brooklyn: Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, Interfaith Medical Center, Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center and Wyckoff Heights Medical Center. In fiscal year 2017, the four hospitals will require more than $300 million in state operating assistance to remain open, according to the report.
The 165-page study includes 37 recommendations for the Brooklyn hospitals. Under the plan, the four hospitals would join together to form a new regional health system with a single board. "The market and financial forces confronting these hospitals make it virtually impossible for them to succeed as stand-alone hospitals," the study reads.
The study also recommends Kingsbrook scale back by consolidating its inpatient services with the Brookdale campus, and moving its behavioral health beds to Interfaith. "From the standpoint of availability of services, it should be noted that Kingsbrook would maintain an emergency department and serve as a location for ambulatory care programs," the study reads.
In addition to the clinical restructuring of services, the study also includes recommendations to address facility infrastructure deficiencies, develop an expanded ambulatory care network and deploy an enterprise-wide health IT platform.