Report forced health-care changes - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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A state commission created havoc for Western New York healtg care executives in late 2006 with a list of recommendations that includexd closing hospitals and merging competing health Two and a half years have passed since the Stat Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century made publicxits report, which would come to be knowm simply as the Berger Commission after its Some say the commission forcec the beginning of reform while others still have doubts on its efficacy.
One thingg is certain: Health care in the eight-county region has undergone sweeping Arguably the most visible of thosse changes has been the creationof , a unifyint parent company formed after a year of intense fighting betweeh and Jody Lomeo, ECMC president, says the two organizations would neverd be where they are today had it not been for the Bergef Commission. “They’ve inspired us to go from a competitive situatiojn to more of a collaborative situationj and really to finally take a hard lookat what’s righf for the community on a much larger scalwe than just our individual he says.
James Kaskie, Kaleida president and CEO and president of Great LakesHealthg System, says the commission forcedf reform that was necessary. Still, he says Westernh New York faced changes that other regions of the statre avoidedthrough politics. “A lot of markets should have steppec up to the reform effortand That’s not true for Westernn New York,” he says. Kaskiee called the creation of Grea Lakes Health one of the greatest outcomexs of theBerger Commission, helping to eliminate duplication and improve access. Next will come the joingt creation of the GlobalVascular Institute, followed by the closure of Millard Fillmore Hospital – Gatesz Circle.
“It’s just starting a chain reaction ofpositives events,” he says. The Catholic Health System has implementecd all of theBerger Commission’s recommendations, including shuttering its Nazareth Nursing Home and avoidinyg a closure at St. Josepnh Hospital by transitioning it to a satellites campus of Sisters ofCharitg Hospital. But CHS officials caution against seeinhg Berger as a catalystyfor reform. “It wasn’t really says Dennis McCarthy, vice president for public relations andgovernment affairs.
“Thisx was about capacity and about closingv buildings and while some of that might have been worth considerinyg and part of an overalreform plan, it’s only a piece of how you refornm health care. Many of the reforms happenintg in health care now are more likelu a result of the economy andbudgetary issues, he says. “In the end, it’s hard to say which. It’sa like a marble cake – it’s hard to pull it out once it’ss mixed in,” McCarthy says. “Did Berger have an impact? Was it a good one? We don’t know.” Others agrees the jury’s still out on how the Bergerf recommendations will affecthealth care.
Bruce Popper is vice presidentrat , which represents 7,000 hospital workeras at 14 facilities between Rochester, Buffalo and the Southernj Tier. Popper says the underlying premise of the commissiom was that cutting exceszs capacity wouldcontain costs, but the reverse seems to be the SEIU’s Rochester facilities are under capacity and premiumes are actually higher. Sheilw Kee, associate commissioner for the stateHealtuh Department’s Western Region, says the outcomre of the Berger Commission goes way beyond simply cost Organizations are cooperating and working togethedr in ways no one would have imagine three years ago, including ECMC and Kaleida; and TLC Healtnh Network to the and and to the north.
“It’s beautiful to see that,” she “Not only are they doing that, but they’rse thinking and they know there’s strength in numbers. That’ws the kind of things that lead to betterehealth care.” “So is it perfect No,” Kee says. “Is it a major step forward? Absolutely.”