September 30, 2008
GOVERNOR PATERSON ANNOUNCES $280 MILLION IN GRANTS FOR STATEWIDE HEALTH CARE PROJECTS
Funding Awarded to Local Non-Profit Clinics, Hospitals, Health Departments and Nursing Homes to Improve Facilities and Increase Efficiency
Projects Include Integration of Primary Care and Mental Health Services, Rightsizing Nursing Homes and Eliminating Duplicative Services
Governor David A. Paterson today announced $280 million in grants to fund health care restructuring projects throughout New York State that will expand the availability of primary care in local communities, cut duplicative services in hospitals, “rightsize” nursing homes and fund consolidation projects by health care providers. These grants are funded through the Health Care Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers (HEAL NY), passed in 2006. HEAL NY authorizes the State to appropriate or bond up to $1 billion for projects that support the mandates of the Commission on Health Care Financing in the 21st Century (Berger Commission).
“HEAL NY projects support the core of New York’s health care reforms by strengthening primary care, supporting further consolidations, and further implementing Berger Commission recommendations to bring efficiency and effectiveness to New York’s health-care system,” said Governor Paterson. “These awards will help improve access to health care in our cities, towns and villages, and bring smart investments that will cut down on wasteful spending by directing funding to the best solutions for health care in New York State.”
State Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines, M.D., said: “We are going into the next vital stage of health care reform, in providing capital support to our health care institutions that are seeking to expand their services and partner with other providers. This starts a new set of Berger-related reforms – providing dollars for construction to improve facilities for this new century.”
HEAL NY Phase 6 – Primary and Community-Based Care, $100 million
HEAL NY Phase 6 funding, 79 awards totaling $100 million, will go to non-profit clinics and local health departments providing services in neighborhoods and local communities. Part of this funding will be also be awarded to hospitals to expand access to primary care services at their main sites and in satellite clinics closer to patients’ homes. These awards focus on patient-centered care, aimed at improving primary care, including disease prevention and health promotion.
Projects will also provide primary dental services for hard-to-reach populations, integrated mental health services with primary care and expanded services to populations with special needs, including HIV/AIDS clients and individuals with developmental disabilities.
These projects are in keeping with DOH’s recent restructuring of the Medicaid payment system to support the provision of truly comprehensive primary care to all clients in need. In mid-2007, Dr. Daines and the Commissioners from the Office of Mental Health (OMH), Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD), and Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) held listening forums throughout the State to learn more about the needs of multiply-diagnosed patients, who may suffer a degenerative chronic disease as well an addiction or a mental illness. Patients, caregivers and advocates spoke in favor of integrated systems so that one health care visit could address many conditions.
OASAS Commissioner Karen M. Carpenter-Palumbo said: “New Yorkers have called on us to provide comprehensive services that effectively respond to their physical, mental and substance abuse needs. Governor Paterson is to be congratulated for putting people first by ensuring that every individual can walk through one door to get their total health care needs met.”
OMH Commissioner Michael F. Hogan, PhD, said: “By helping to identify and address multiple health and mental health needs of individuals in primary care settings, these awards will lead to better access to comprehensive care and ultimately, to healthier new Yorkers. Research has demonstrated better outcomes and reduced costs when the treatment and support needs of individuals who have more than one illness or disability at the same time are met.”
OMRDD Commissioner Diana Jones Ritter said: “Delivering the highest quality supports and services to the people with developmental disabilities in New York State is what we do. We are proud to be part of a collaboration of which the outcome will not only vastly improve the lives of those in our care, but will also be more efficient for those we serve.”
HEAL NY Phase 7 – Berger Coverage Partners and “Look-Alikes,” $150 million
HEAL NY Phase 7 awards will help 26 hospitals, nursing homes and community-based providers serving patients affected by the downsizing and closure of health care institutions under the Berger Commission. Awards for these Berger “coverage partners” include $13 million to Lutheran Medical Center and $11 million to Maimonides Medical Center, both in Brooklyn, to serve patients affected by the closure of Victory Memorial Hospital.
These awards also support Berger “look-alike” projects for collaborative arrangements between facilities to reduce excess bed capacity and eliminate duplicative services. For example, $20 million in HEAL funds will go to St. Mary’s Hospital at Amsterdam and Amsterdam Memorial Hospital for the merger of those institutions. Additionally, an award to Rivington House in Lower Manhattan will enable that facility to maintain 18 AIDS nursing home beds transferred from Mapplethorpe Health Care Facility as that provider closes.
HEAL NY Phase 8 – Nursing Home Rightsizing, $30 million
HEAL NY Phase 8 projects total $30 million dollars in funding granted to ten nursing homes to improve services for residents and calibrate capacity, including a mix of downsizing excess capacity in residential health care facilities, and reinvestments in additional adult day health care services and assisted living. These projects will help modernize the long term care system in New York and are part of the rebalancing efforts under way. Each region in New York is represented in these projects. As always, any reduction in residential capacity will be coupled with extensive monitoring so that health and safety of the residents is protected.
The Department of Health and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) collaborated to review all applications and determine awards.
Paul T. Williams Jr., Executive Director of the Dormitory Authority, said: “We at the Dormitory Authority are pleased to be part of this important process to help bring about high-quality, efficient health care to New Yorkers.”
Projects ineligible for bond financing will be funded through the $1.5 billion Federal-State Health Reform Partnership (F-SHRP). The federal government requires a funding match to access up to $1.5 billion in F-SHRP funding; HEAL NY and Medicaid audit recoveries make up the State share.
A full list of awards is available at www.nyhealth.gov.
