SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION

Project 2.a.iv

Medical Village

 

WHY WE CHOSE THIS PROJECT

The MHVC Community Needs Assessment (CNA) identified gaps in services that could be addressed with our medical village project:

1) Excess capacity leading to inefficient healthcare resource usage: In recent years, average daily census for hospitals in the Hudson Valley was <70% of licensed bed capacity, and below a targeted 85% for staffed beds. Repurposing this capacity is imperative to preserve the safety net for these communities.

2) Unmet community needs: Our CNA defined current or projected unmet needs that suggest constructive uses for this excess capacity, most notably the need to provide more primary and ambulatory care services in locations and times that are more convenient and accessible to patients.

The access challenges in the Hudson Valley are significant since the region comprises so many rural areas. Medical villages mitigate this problem and others by co-locating and/or clustering services linked by transportation, providing integrated primary and behavioral health care, ensuring an even distribution of urgent care access points, providing care management and coordination, and addressing shortages in community-based resources such as crisis beds.

The MHVC network has an expansive footprint, with over 15 hospital campuses that serve patients from seven counties. MHVC is well-suited for this project, since this geographic diversity will allow our partners to work together to strategically adapt care delivery, taking into consideration both demand as well as quality of care, so as to achieve the maximal savings from the removal of unnecessary capacity. Similarly, creation of multiple villages at our partners will allow us to coordinate the services to be provided at these sites to best meet community needs, with special emphasis on integrating over 400 community-based organizations in our network.

PROJECT GOALS

To meet the gaps identified in the CNA, we are designing our medical villages using an iterative four-pronged process:

• Engaging partner hospitals to co-create a future-state vision for facilities providing an integrated care experience tailored to the need of the local communities;
• Conducting facility surveys to assess suitability of space for potential uses and estimate required capital;
• Engaging local communities to seek input on the services to be provided in villages; and
• Ensuring financial sustainability by providing services capable of generating alternative revenue streams while maximizing additional sources of capital, including philanthropy.

MHVC is establishing seven medical villages in the Hudson Valley: Montefiore New Rochelle, Montefiore Mount Vernon, St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital—Newburgh, St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital—Cornwall, Nyack Hospital, St. John’s Riverside Hospital and St. Joseph’s Medical Center—Yonkers.