No word from state on HealthAlliance proposal

HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley has yet to hear from the state on its application for its two campuses.

HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley has yet to hear from state officials on its September application to expand one hospital campus and to convert the other into a “medical village.”

In a brief email last week, Marketing Director Lynn Nichols said there was no new information on HealthAlliance’s application to the state Health Department.

“We do not have an update to report,” Nicholas said.

In October, Nicholas had said the request for a “certificate of need” approval of expansion at the Mary’s Avenue campus, as well as one to turn the Broadway campus into a medical village, had been made. The total project cost is expected to be $133.6 million.

“HealthAlliance submitted its certificate of need application to the state Department of Health (on) Sept. 22,” Nichols said in an email at that time. “The department said it would ‘expedite’ its review of all awards granted under the state’s Capital Restructuring Financing Program.”

HealthAlliance has been awarded $88.8 million from that state program to help pay for consolidation of all hospital services at the Mary’s Avenue site and the Broadway campus conversion into a “medical village” that would house various outpatient medical services and educational services.

Hospital officials have said construction could begin this summer for the planned expansion to the Mary’s Avenue hospital campus of HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley.

In March, the city Planning Board approved the site plan for the 110,000-square-foot expansion. The approval comes with some conditions, though, including that HealthAlliance provide a performance bond to the city to ensure satisfactory completion of the project. The amount of the bond is to be determined.

David Scarpino, president and chief executive officer of HealthAlliance, has said the hospital was excited and happy to move forward with the expansion project.

“We believe that the consolidation to Mary’s Avenue will improve the quality of, and access to, health care in the community,” Scarpino said at the March meeting.

The Mary’s Avenue project will include a new Emergency Department and 51 patient beds.

The Mary’s Avenue Campus, formerly Benedictine Hospital, closed its Emergency Department almost a decade ago, when HealthAlliance was formed as the parent company of Benedictine and Kingston hospitals. A new Emergency Department then was built at Kingston Hospital, just half a mile from Benedictine in Midtown Kingston. HealthAlliance later renamed Kingston Hospital as the Broadway Campus to reflect its street location.

With the plan to consolidate, the Mary’s Avenue building will again need to offer emergency medical services.

The planned work at the two hospital campuses is expected to cost a combined $133.6 million. Of that, $112 million is to be used for the Mary’s Avenue site and $21.6 million would be devoted to the medical village.

HealthAlliance became part of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network about a year ago.