case study Hospitals and Health Policy Read the following article carefully. The
ID: 264697 • Letter: C
Question
case study
Hospitals and Health Policy
Read the following article carefully. Then answer the true/false and multiple choice questions based on
the article and material we covered in class and write the brief essay described at the end. The material
we covered in class that refers to the topic of hospital mergers and acquisitions, the subject of the article,
can be found in slide show 2 (Blackboard, Class Documents, Health Delivery Systems: Hospitals) – which
will help you with all of your answers. The due date is May 2 (in class or by email) or earlier if you choose.
Your grade will be based 50% on the first set of questions and 50% on the brief essay.
Yonkers' St. John's Hospital aligns with Mount Sinai
By MELISSA KLEIN, the Journal News (Westchester), September 23, 2006)
YONKERS C St. John's Riverside Hospital is teaming up with Mount Sinai Hospital in
Manhattan, meaning an increasing number of patients will be sent to the city for advanced care.
The presidents of each hospital announced the affiliation yesterday, a formalization of a
partnership that has grown increasingly close in recent years.
In doing so, St. John's, a 407-bed community hospital, is withdrawing from an alliance of
Westchester County hospitals that includes Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla. The
medical center provides the most sophisticated services in the region, such as heart surgery
and trauma care.
During an eight-month period in 2005, St. John's was one of the top six hospitals referring
patients to the medical center, sending almost 200 people there.
Jim Foy, the president of St. John's, said the new arrangement was not a slap in the face to the
medical center, which is battling back from a financial crisis.
"We saw it as a way to enhance what our patients were getting, not that in a sense that it was
poor in the past, but this was just a wonderful opportunity," Foy said. "With Mount Sinai, we're
talking about one of the handful of best facilities in the world."
Michael Israel, the medical center's president, said the two hospitals would likely still have a
relationship.
"Our doctors and their doctors have worked together for years, and I'm sure they'll continue to
work together in a productive way to benefit the residents of Westchester County," he said.
A decision to transfer a patient, or send someone to a particular hospital, usually is made by the
individual doctor and not dictated by hospital management.
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Foy said the doctors who work at St. John's were in favor of the new affiliation. He said one
advantage of the arrangement was that some St. John's doctors were able to join the staff at the
city hospital, and some Mount Sinai doctors, including an infertility specialist, will have part-time
office hours in Yonkers.
Mount Sinai, the large teaching hospital at Fifth Avenue between 98th and 101st streets, is
about 17 miles from St. John's.
Still, some people interviewed outside St. John's yesterday said that while Mount Sinai had a
good reputation, traveling to Manhattan for care, or to visit someone, seemed like an
inconvenience.
"Mount Sinai is very bad with the parking," said Marcia Brown, a Yonkers resident.
The affiliation with St. John's, and the Riverside Health Care System, which includes
Community Hospital at Dobbs Ferry, is the first major one in Westchester for Mount Sinai. It
affiliated with Phelps Memorial Hospital Center in Sleepy Hollow but just for geriatric care.
"Mount Sinai doesn't want an affiliated network that is a number of flags on a map," Dr. Kenneth
Davis, the president of Mount Sinai, said yesterday. "Mount Sinai is looking for a few good
partners, partners that we can really help and in turn can help us."
Four other Westchester hospitals belong to New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System.
St. John's joined with other Westchester hospitals in 1997 to form the Pinnacle Healthcare
network to gain greater clout with health insurers. The other hospitals are Westchester Medical
Center, Sound Shore Medical Center in New Rochelle, Mount Vernon Hospital and Hudson
Valley Hospital Center in Cortlandt.
In 2004, the hospitals flexed their collective muscle and said they were terminating their contract
with United Healthcare because of inadequate reimbursements. They eventually reached a deal
with the insurance company that is to run through 2008.
Helen Turchioe, the executive director of Pinnacle, said most of Pinnacle's contracts would
continue, but lawyers would review the agreements.
She said the network would not be weakened by the loss of St. John's.
"The other hospitals within Pinnacle are really looking at Westchester Medical as a strength,"
she said. "We really see our long-term success lying with the medical center, and they're doing
a wonderful turnaround right now."
Turchioe did say Pinnacle was in discussions with other hospitals to potentially join the network.
The only acute-care hospital in Westchester not affiliated with a network is St. Joseph's Medical
Center in Yonkers.
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TAKEHOME QUESTIONS (circle correct answer)
4. Doctors affiliated with St. John’s prefer the new arrangement because they will
be able to gain access to more patients (including some Westchester residents
who now use Manhattan facilities). True or False?
5. Patients at St. Johns may benefit from the new arrangement because they will:
a. Be able to gain access to excellent specialists at a well-respected New
York City-based academic medical center
b. Have a shorter trip than now to see specialists
c. See their costs for hospital and physician care go down after the new
arrangement goes into effect
d. Their insurance companies prefer this arrangement to the old one
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6. The new network arrangement is probably an example of:
a. A horizontal merger
b. A vertical merger
c. Both a horizontal and a vertical merger
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case study Hospitals and Health Policy Read the following article carefully. The
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