Kenmore (N.Y.) Mercy Hospital, part of Buffalo, N.Y.-based Catholic Health, said it is discontinuing its voluntary lung health maintenance program.
The program, for $6 a class, provides people with chronic lung problems a location to exercise and use self-management skills taught in a prerequisite program.That program, offered in Tonawanda, N.Y., is for patients who are eligible for medically supervised outpatient rehabilitation and need help developing skills to manage their lung conditions.
To ensure the longevity of the prerequisite program and focus resources where they are most needed, the hospital is discontinuing the lung health maintenance program in January and transitioning people in that program to a local provider, a Kenmore Mercy news release says.
The hospital attributed the move to financial struggles in today's healthcare reimbursement environment.
"For the last eight years, this program has been on our radar because it's been losing money every year," Walter Ludwig, Kenmore Mercy president and former COO, told The Buffalo News. "There was a time when there was lots of money around, and we could handle the losses, but things are getting a lot tighter, so we’re looking at every program."
News of the program ending comes after Catholic Health announced in November that it is cutting about 200 positions through a combination of voluntary buyouts, layoffs, elimination of vacant positions and management consolidations. Both management and nonmanagement employees will be affected.
Amid these changes across the health system, Kenmore Mercy has encouraged individuals in the pulmonary maintenance program to transition to the Medically Oriented Gym in Tonawanda, which it said focuses on treatment for medically compromised individuals and offers comparable services, with appropriate equipment, dedicated exercise sessions and physical therapy and exercise professionals with basic life support training.
The three part-time nurses who run the maintenance program will have their hours reduced during the transition, according to the hospital. The program has been run at the Sheridan Healthcare Center in Tonawanda and will continue to be run there through Jan. 20.
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