Express News Staff
The Webb town board held its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, May 8. Board members present were Councilwoman Mary Brophy-Moore, Councilwoman Kate Russell, Councilman J.B. Herron, Councilman Mike Ross, and Town Supervisor Ted Riehle. Also in attendance were Town Clerk Nanci Russell and Town Attorney Richard Frye.
The first topic to be addressed was the Town of Webb Professional Offices. For many months, the board has been exploring different avenues to improve local health care services. A survey was organized to solicit feedback from both residents and visitors about why they do or do not use the health center, and what services are important to them.
Currently, the town oversees and funds the majority of the operations at the health center. Realizing that managing a medical facility is beyond the scope of town government, the board would like to see the facility run by a larger medical network that would have the resources and expertise to provide quality care for our community.
With the impending retirement of Dr. Mark Webster and relocation of Dr. Thomas Socash in the next few months, the town board needs to come up with a plan for the future of the Health Center and start putting that plan into action.
“Time is of the essence. Both doctors indicated to me that we need to make a decision and we need to make it sooner than later,” said Riehle. “Fortunately we were ahead of the curve, in that hospitals were already working on preliminary proposals for us.”
The board, along with Dr. Webster and Head Nurse Laura Cooper, listened to proposals from St. Elizabeth Medical Center (SEMC) and Adirondack Community Physicians (ACP), which is a division of Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare, at the audit of claims meeting held Monday, May 7.
Both groups presented thorough preliminary proposals, addressing things like staffing, required building renovations, lab, dental, physical therapy and HASCA services, lease agreements, and more. At the board’s regular meeting on May 8, Supervisor Riehle presented a summary of each of these proposals.
Each proposal had some similarities, and both proposed providing more or less the same services that are currently available. Both groups would lease the building from the town, and would like to keep current dental, physical therapy, and HASCA services in the building, but independent from the health clinic. Both groups would accept all insurances and would see patients on a walk-in basis regardless of whether or not they are regular patients at the clinic.
Currently, the town pays a yearly subsidy of nearly $30,000 to Centrex Laboratories for their services.
ACP would continue the use of Centrex for their lab services at the same cost. SEMC would bring in their own lab services.
In the proposal from SEMC, the group would transition current staff to become SEMC employees. AFP would also offer all available positions to current staff. Any staff not offered a position would be eligible for positions at other ACP branches.
In order to comply with Article 28 regulations, renovations will need to be done throughout the building to make it code compliant. This would be paid for by SEMC within the health clinic portion, and paid for by the town in the dental, physical therapy and HASCA offices. This would be a one time investment by the town.
According to Dr. Webster, after hearing the proposals from both groups, he said that he felt confident that either one would be able to provide quality health care and meet the needs of our community.
That being said, the biggest deciding factor was the expense to taxpayers. SEMC would like the town to pay for necessary renovations to the building in the areas that are not within the health clinic, but will cover all the costs of operating the health clinic after that. ACP requested a yearly subsidy of $250,000 to help offset the costs to operate the health clinic. The amount of this subsidy would be reviewed yearly and be subject to change. After ACP made their proposal, Riehle went back to them to see if they would be willing to come up with a proposal that did not require a subsidy from the town, but they declined to do so.
After processing all this information, and after thorough discussion by the board and the assembly, the board decided it would be in the community’s best interest to pursue negotiations with SEMC. From a financial standpoint, they offered the greatest savings to the taxpayers. Riehle estimates that the town is currently spending about $500,000 per year on operating the health center. He said that by going with SEMC, the town could potentially make money from the arrangement, or break even at the very least. This proposal takes the majority of the cost and responsibility away from the town, which is the direction the board was hoping to go.
“The medical field is getting complicated, and I think for the town board to be involved as a partner in a medical facility, I don’t think makes sense today,” said Riehle.
A motion was made by Councilwoman Russell to proceed with negotiations with SEMC. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Moore and passed by unanimous vote.
A public information session has been scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 15, in the Town Meeting Room. Representatives from SEMC will be there, and the public is invited to attend and ask questions about the group’s proposal. This meeting is also intended to assist in generating feedback from the community that may be helpful in the negotiation process.
It is estimated that it will take about six months to make the transition. A Certificate of Need has to be filed with the Department of Health, as the location needs to be approved as an extension clinic under SEMC’s Operating Certificate. Also, renovations to the building need to be completed in order to bring it in compliance with Article 28 regulations, and a lease agreement has to be developed. Medical coverage and services will not be disrupted during this transitional period. SEMC has offered to provide an interim physician as necessary during the transition to cover any gaps in the availability of providers.
The preliminary proposals from both SEMC and ACP are available at the Town Clerk’s Office.