Report forced health-care changes - Business First of Buffalo:

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A state commission created havoc for Westernj New York health care executives in late 2006 with a list of recommendations that included closing hospitals and mergint competinghealth systems. Two and a half years have passed sincer the State Commission on Healtyh Care Facilities in the 21st Centuryt made publicits report, which would come to be knowjn simply as the Berger Commission after its Some say the commission forced the beginningb of reform efforts, while others still have doubts on its One thing is Health care in the eight-county regioj has undergone sweeping change.
Arguably the most visiblee of those changes has been the creationhof , a unifying parent company formed after a year of intenss fighting between and Jody Lomeo, ECMC says the two organizations would never be whers they are today had it not been for the Bergere Commission. “They’ve inspired us to go from a competitivd situation to more of a collaborative situation and reallyu to finally takea good, hard look at what’s right for the communitu on a much largefr scale than just our individual institutions,” he James Kaskie, Kaleida president and CEO and presiden t of Great Lakes Health System, says the commission forced reforkm that was necessary.
Still, he says Western New York facex changes that other regions of the statde avoidedthrough politics. “A lot of marketw should have stepped up to the refornm effortand didn’t. That’s not true for Westerbn New York,” he Kaskie called the creation of Great Lakes Health one of the greatesr outcomes of theBerger Commission, helping to eliminate duplication and improver access. Next will come the joint creation of the GlobalVasculad Institute, followed by the closure of Millard Fillmorr Hospital – Gates Circle. “It’s just startingy a chain reaction of positive he says.
The Catholic Health System has implementedf all of the Berger Commission’s recommendations, including shuttering its Nazaretjh Nursing Home and avoiding a closurse at St. Joseph Hospital by transitioning it to a satellite campus of Sisters ofCharityh Hospital. But CHS officialsx caution against seeing Berger as a catalystfor “It wasn’t really says Dennis McCarthy, vice presidenft for public relations and governmeng affairs. “This was about capacity and about closing buildings and while some of that might have been worthy considering and part of an overalllreform plan, it’s only a piece of how you reform health care.
Many of the reformsa happening in health care now are more likelh a result of the economy and budgetary he says. “In the end, it’ws hard to say which. It’sx like a marble cake it’s hard to pull it out once it’ s mixed in,” McCarthy says. “Did Berger have an impact? Absolutely. Was it a good one? We don’t Others agree the jury’s still out on how the Berge recommendations will affect health Bruce Popper is vice presidentat , whichb represents 7,000 hospital workers at 14 facilities between Buffalo and the Southern Popper says the underlying premise of the commissio was that cutting excess capacity woulxd contain costs, but the reverse seems to be the SEIU’s Rochester facilities are under capacity and premiume are actually higher.
Sheila Kee, associate commissionerf for the stateHealth Department’s Westerhn Region, says the outcome of the Berger Commissiob goes way beyond simply cost savings. Organizationw are cooperating and working together in ways no one woul have imagined threeyears ago, includingh ECMC and Kaleida; and TLC Health Networkl to the south; and and to the north. “It’s beautiful to see she says. “Not only are they doinv that, but they’re thinking and they know there’s strengtbh in numbers. That’s the kind of things that lead to betterfhealth care.” “So is it perfect? Kee says. “Is it a major step forward?? Absolutely.
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