For Kingston, there”™s a new chief doctor in town. He faces a daunting set of symptoms as three unique hospitals go from solo to conjoined.
The Health Alliance of the Hudson Valley (HAHV), a new company overseeing the merged operations of Kingston and Benedictine hospitals in Kingston, has announced it has completed its search for a new CEO to guide the company after the facilities complete their merger. Â
David Lundquist, who has served as CEO of St. Claire”™s Health System in Denville, N.J., will take over the helm of Health Alliance of the Hudson Valley, the successor to Health Alliance Planning.
The new company will be a nonprofit health organization to oversee the affiliated Kingston and Benedictine hospitals. The two hospitals will officially merge in early 2009 once the Foxhall Ambulatory Surgery Center is completed at Kingston Hospital. The tiny Margaretville Hospital in Delaware County, which is already affiliated with the Kingston hospital, is also becoming part of HAHV.Â
Lundquist no longer works at St. Claire”™s and could not be reached for comment. But Health Alliance officials described Lundquist”™s credentials as being what are required to oversee the operations of both hospitals into the future.
“We are excited to have David assume the leadership of our organization,” said William LeDoux, co-chairman of the HAHV board. “The selection committee was very impressed with his experience with the integration of hospitals.”
“David”™s background and passion for quality health care impressed everyone who was part of the selection process.” said Eugene Heslin, HAHV co-chairman.
Lundquist was able to transform the St. Claire”™s system, which had $80 million in losses, to a “prominent and affordable health system,” according to a press release by Sean Casey, a spokesman for Benedictine and Kingston hospitals.
Before moving to New Jersey, Lundquist served as CEO of American University Health Care Inc. in Oklahoma City. He had also served in that same position at two other hospitals in Oklahoma. He began his career in health care management as the management engineer at the University of Oklahoma Hospitals and Clinics.
He faces a formidable challenge overseeing the three merging hospitals of HAHV. The 220-bed Benedictine Hospital is a Catholic facility, while 160 bed Kingston hospital is a nonsectarian institution. Reconciling the Catholic institution”™s ban on abortion and other reproductive procedures with the need for women”™s health services necessitated creation of the Foxhall Avenue Ambulatory Center. Also part of the merger is Kingston”™s current affiliate, the 15 bed Margaretville Memorial Hospital on Route 28 in Delaware County.
The merger was ordered in 2006 by the state Berger Commission which studied health care needs in New York State in the 21st century. In testimony on the decision delivered to the state Assembly responding to that order, Benedictine Hospital CEO Thomas Dee noted that between 1998 and 2006, all three hospitals ran at a deficit.
“Our hospitals in Ulster County have been fighting an uphill battle for resources, personnel and technology,” Dee said. He noted reimbursement formulas meant Ulster County hospitals received about “25 percent less reimbursement on every Medicare patient” than downstate hospitals for similar procedures. This had led to difficulty attracting staff and modernizing the hospitals, Dee said.
