Finger Lakes Health looks for partners

GENEVA--Finger Lakes Health (FLH), an integrated healthcare delivery system that provides a full range of acute and long-term care health services to residents of Ontario, Seneca and Yates Counties, announced Thursday, June 6 it is starting the process of exploring partnership options. Finger Lakes Health plans to contact and vet select healthcare organizations to identify potential partners willing and able to further the mission to improve health and promote well-being in the communities Finger Lakes Health serves.
"The board and system leadership determined that the timing is right to explore options regarding a potential partnership," said Jose Acevedo, M.D., president and CEO for Finger Lakes Health.
In this time of change and transformation in healthcare, Finger Lakes Health says it is taking a proactive approach and exploring all avenues and options to ensure future financial stability and maintain the quality clinical care required to serve the needs of its communities.
"We believe that exploring our strategic options is in the best interest of the entire system, our employees and physicians, and most importantly, the patients we all serve," stated Lance Ward, chair of the Finger Lakes Health Board of Directors.
Specifically, the board of Finger Lakes Health has identified the following strategic objectives to guide its decision-making throughout the process:
• Maintain and expand access to healthcare services including new clinical programs to meet service area needs
• Maintain a local role in governance along with parent board representation
• Augment population health capabilities and presence
• Provide enhanced support for clinical quality and compliance
• Maintain and enhance FLH long-term financial viability
• Recruit and retain providers
• Make needed investments in technology and facilities
• Enhance recognition of FLH's clinical programs through branding.
The board anticipates reviewing proposals and potential partner options during the second half of the summer and early fall; each potential partner organization will be evaluated to understand how it can best assist FLH in realizing the system's strategic objectives. Should the board decide to move forward in exclusive discussions with a potential partner organization, a due diligence process will be undertaken, as well as any required regulatory review processes.
As the board moves through the evaluation process, additional information will be shared concerning the status of the process. Should the board identify a preferred partner, that announcement will occur once a non-binding letter of intent has been executed that spells out key provisions of the proposed partnership.
"We have crafted the objectives that will guide us during our evaluation of potential partnership options. Well before any contractually binding commitments are made, the Finger Lakes Health Board will share its preferred direction with stakeholders and the community," noted Ward.
Finger Lakes Health is an integrated delivery system that provides a full range of acute and long-term care health services to residents of the Finger Lakes region. Acute and long-term care services are provided on three campuses located in Ontario, Seneca and Yates Counties. Primary care services are provided in Ontario, Seneca, Wayne and Yates Counties.
The health system consists of the following facilities: Geneva General Hospital, a general acute care hospital providing both primary care and a full range of secondary level services, and Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hospital, a critical access hospital. FLH also includes four long-term care facilities, eight primary care practices, seven specialty care practices and two apartment complexes. The system also includes adult day health services, a dialysis center, an early learning (child care center), a behavioral health center, a college of nursing and health sciences and a school of practical nursing.