River Hospital pursuing clinical affiliation with Upstate Medical – NNY360

ALEXANDRIA BAY River Hospital has announced that it is currently pursuing a clinical affiliation with Upstate Medical University in Syracuse.

Basically, a clinical affiliation is an agreement between institutions to further service delivery in their region through their partnership. While Upstate and River have partnered in the past to enhance the delivery of services, this affiliation will be a more formal agreement.

Our relationship with Upstate has been long-standing, so moving into a relationship is a good next step for us, said Emily Mastaler, CEO of River Hospital.

For the past several years, Rivers relationship with Upstate has proven essential to the hospitals expansion of critical services such as telehealth and onsite specialty resources.

This new affiliation would include both institutions working together on efforts aimed at developing programs to promote prevention, wellness and continuity of care throughout the St. Lawrence River communities.

Moving towards a more formal partnership makes natural sense, Ms. Mastaler said. Theyve been integral in bringing a variety of service types, like helping advance our telehealth services.

Though the length of the affiliation is yet to be decided, according to Ms. Mastaler, it will be a multi-year agreement.

River Hospitals affiliation agreement with Crouse Health expired as of Dec. 12, but River will continue its strong affiliation with Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center under the North Star Health Alliance, which was formed in 2015.

According to Ms. Mastaler, the move away from an affiliation with Crouse was intentional, due to the changing needs of Rivers patients.

Were excited to move forward with Upstate, but we absolutely remain open to any and all partnerships that advance healthcare services in our region, Ms. Mastaler said.

Licensed for 15 acute care and nine Swing beds, River Hospital operates an active emergency room and was designated as a Critical Access Hospital in 2003. The only academic medical center in Central New York, Upstate Medical is the regions largest employer with more than 10,000 employees.

Im so excited to build partnerships in the north country that advance healthcare delivery in rural settings and truly meet the needs of the people, Ms. Mastaler said.

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River Hospital pursuing clinical affiliation with Upstate Medical - NNY360