REVITALIZING HEALTH CARE
New medical pavilion revitalizes area health care
LATHAM, N.Y. – Six years ago this month three different organizations joined forces to improve the quality of Capital Region healthcare.
St. Peter’s Health Partners was formed when Northeast Health (Samaritan Hospital, Albany Memorial Hospital, and The Eddy) began working together with St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany and St. Mary’s Hospital in Troy.
It quickly became evident that Troy no longer needed two in-patient hospitals, Samaritan and St. Mary’s, so plans were developed for one such facility with a separate one for ambulatory care. That came to fruition this summer with completion of the Heinrich Medicus Pavilion, located at the Samaritan campus and named for the RPI professor who donated $10 million to the project.
It’s the focal point of a $100 million master facilities plan.
“One of the things we really focused on in creating the master’s facilities project was making sure that we were connecting to what the community needs were,” said Scarlet Clement-Buffoline, chief operating officer of St. Peter’s Health Partners Acute Care. “We were hearing a lot from people that they were leaving Troy or Rensselaer County to seek health services elsewhere. We knew that we really needed to expand on stateof-the-art services, focus on quality and make health care affordable, but also sustainable for us as an organization in the long term.”
She discussed the project’s development during a CapCom Financial Services event on Thursday, at The Century House in Latham.
Previously, Samaritan
and St. Mary’s had a combined 400 in-patient beds, but on average only about half of them used at any time.
“We reduced our bed capacity and really focused on what do patients really need today?” Clement-Buffoline said. “We cut our beds from 400 to slightly under 200. But every patient has a single room and state-of-theart facilities really focused on their comfort.”
“On the other hand, we’ve focused ambulatory services at the former St. Mary’s Hospital, in addition to other medical associates’ practices within the community – really expanding upon our primary care practices and specialty services in the community,” she said.
St. Peter’s has approximately 12,500 employees.
Its partnership comprised of former competing entities is representative of a growing trend in healthcare. For example, Glens Falls recently announced plans for a strategic alliance with Albany Medical Center Hospital, which already has such working agreements with Saratoga and Columbia Memorial (Hudson) hospitals.
John Shartrand, CapCom chief investment officer, said high-quality healthcare like higher education is critical to attracting new employers to the area and keeping the Capital Region economically competitive.
Clement-Buffoline’s presentation included a fascinating look at the history of Troy medical facilities, dating back to the 19th century.
“In 1896, when Samaritan Hospital’s papers of incorporation were signed, Troy stood as a bustling industrial city of more than 60,000 people with more than 8,000 women working in the collar industry alone,” she said.
At the time, Troy already had three other hospitals – Troy Hospital at the head of Fulton Street, Leonard Hospital in Lansingburgh (which became St. Mary’s), and the Marshall Sanitarium on Linden Avenue.
St. Mary’s, founded in 1850, was the first hospital north of Albany and consisted of one room in a four-story building, but grew to 125 beds by 1869. It was built on its current location on Oakwood Avenue in 1914.
Samaritan Hospital started out on 8th Street and moved to its current Burdett Avenue site, also in 1914.
“Samaritan was born at the turn of the century, at a time when major technological discoveries like X-rays, the electrocardiogram and new methods of diagnosis and treatment were unfolding,” Clement-Buffoline said. “Throughout the 20th century, Samaritan Hospital expanded, renovated, and made significant technological and medical advancements.” This tradition is continuing with the new Heinrich Medicus Pavilion, she said.
Samaritan campus improvements also include a new emergency department, endoscopy suite, pharmacy, and 550-space parking garage.
St. Mary’s, the primary outpatient campus, houses a new cancer treatment program, urgent care, medical imaging, an addictions program, the school of nursing, and various other clinical and administrative services.