Roughly 100 miles north of New York City, the Mid Hudson Family Health Institute serves some of the poorest and most at-risk populations in New York’s Ulster and Dutchess counties. The institute’s six community health centers provide primary and preventive care for 43,000 patients who make approximately 165,000 visits per year; they are also the only local source of care for patients who receive Medicaid or are uninsured.
In the fall of 2007, the Mid Hudson network of clinics was losing $100,000 per month and was dangerously close to financial insolvency. Leaders began preparing for the networks’ closure. Recognizing the risk involved for patients, the Institute for Family Health in New York City, agreed to acquire the Mid Hudson network with the help of a $1 million grant from the New York State Health Foundation (NYSHealth).
“This grant provided desperately needed financial support for an institution whose sole purpose is to improve the health of some of our society’s most vulnerable populations,” said James R. Knickman, President and CEO of NYSHealth.
“Organizations focused on serving the poor must piece together a financial structure to sustain their efforts,” said Dr. Neil Calman, President and CEO of the Institute for Family Health. “Some of the most skilled administrators in our field have gone down trying to do this and the Mid Hudson network was in dire straights. We felt an obligation and an opportunity to help bring renewed hope to the region and believed that a complete acquisition, while risky, was feasible and critical to the health of New Yorkers.”
While the process of combining two corporate cultures and administrative systems can be complicated, each organization’s commitment allowed for a transition that ultimately saved vital healthcare services for an entire region. With NYSHealth’s support, the Institute for Family Health will close the loan on the acquisition and implement a state-of-the-art electronic health record system that will improve care and cut costs for generations to come.