Report forced health-care changes – Orlando Business Journal:

A state commission created havoc for Westerm New York health care executives in late 2006 with a list of recommendationas that included closing hospitals and merging competinghealth systems. Two and a half yearw have passed since the Statde Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century made publiits report, which would come to be knowbn simply as the Berger Commission after its Some say the commission forced the beginning of reform while others still have doubts on its One thing is certain: Health care in the eight-countyh region has undergone sweeping Arguably the most visible of those changew has been the creation of , a unifying pareny company formed after a year of intense fighting between and Jody ECMC president, says the two organizationds would never be where they are today had it not been for the Berger “They’ve inspired us to go from a competitive situationn to more of a collaborative situation and really to finallyh take a good, hard look at what’s right for the community on a much largerd scale than just our individuao institutions,” he says.
James Kaskie, Kaleida president and CEO and president of Great LakesHealtn System, says the commission forced reformm that was necessary. Still, he says Western New York faced changes that other regions of the state avoidesdthrough politics. “A lot of marketsw should have stepped up to the reformk effortand didn’t. That’s not true for Westernb New York,” he says. Kaskie called the creatiojn of Great Lakes Health one of the greatest outcomews of theBerger Commission, helpiny to eliminate duplication and improve Next will come the joint creation of the Global Vascular Institute, followed by the closure of Millarf Fillmore Hospital – Gates Circle.
“It’s just starting a chain reactioh ofpositive events,” he says. The Catholi Health System has implemented all of theBerger Commission’sd recommendations, including shuttering its Nazareth Nursing Home and avoidingh a closure at St. Joseph Hospital by transitioningg it to a satellite campus of Sisterzs ofCharity Hospital. But CHS officials cautiom against seeing Berger as a catalystfor reform. “Ift wasn’t really reform,” says Dennis McCarthy, vice president for public relations andgovernmentf affairs.
“This was about capacity and abouft closing buildings and while some of that mighr have been worth considering and part of an overall reform plan, it’s only a piecer of how you refor m health care. Many of the reforms happeninv in health care now are more likely a resulr of the economy andbudgetary issues, he “In the end, it’s hard to say which. It’sa like a marble cake – it’s hard to pull it out once it’sx mixed in,” McCarthy “Did Berger have an impact? Was it a good one? We don’t Others agree the jury’s still out on how the Berger recommendations will affecthealthu care.
Bruce Popper is vice presidentat , which representsx 7,000 hospital workers at 14 facilities betweej Rochester, Buffalo and the Southern Tier. Popper says the underlying premises of the commission was that cutting excess capacityt wouldcontain costs, but the reverse seems to be the SEIU’s Rochester facilities are under capacity and premiumxs are actually higher. Sheila Kee, associate commissionet for the stateHealth Department’s Westerm Region, says the outcome of the Berger Commissionh goes way beyond simply cost savings.
Organizations are cooperating and workingh together in ways no one would have imagined threweyears ago, including ECMC and Kaleida; and TLC Healthb Network to the south; and and to the north. “It’se beautiful to see she says. “Not only are they doing but they’re thinking and they know there’sd strength in numbers. That’s the kind of thinge that lead to betterhealth care.” “Sko is it perfect? Kee says. “Is it a major step forward?

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