The new owner of St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie has renamed it MidHudson Regional Hospital of Westchester Medical Center.
The name change took effect Friday with the closing of the 100-year-old hospital”™s purchase through U.S. Bankruptcy Court by Westchester County Health Care Corp., the public benefit corporation that operates Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla.
“We are very excited about MidHudson Regional Hospital and its future,” Westchester Medical Center president and CEO Michael Israel said in the Valhalla hospital”™s announcement of the renaming and takeover. “We believe we have made an important investment in health care in the community as well as the entire region.”
As a part of Westchester Medical Center, the Poughkeepsie hospital will maintain current services including Level II trauma services, inpatient psychiatric services and emergency mental health and chemical dependency services, Westchester Medical Center officials said. Its home health care program and preschool and early intervention program will also remain in place.
Arthur A. Nizza, who served as president and CEO of the financially distressed hospital since last August, has been named president of MidHudson Regional Hospital.
The Poughkeepsie hospital in December petitioned in federal court for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing approximately $137.7 million in liabilities and about $17.2 million in net assets. Nizza in court documents said the hospital and affiliate entities included in the bankruptcy proceeding and sale had an operating loss of $7.7 million in 2012.
The Dutchess County hospital employs about 2,000 full-time and part-time employees.
