Northwell to acquire stake in Surgical Specialty Center in Harrison

Surgical Specialty Center of Westchester, a multispecialty outpatient surgical practice in Harrison, will partner with Northwell Health, the metropolitan health care system based on Long Island, in a joint venture that could give Northwell a majority stake in the practice within five years.

Northwell today announced it will initially acquire a 20 percent position in the 34-surgeon practice at 440 Mamaroneck Ave. The ownership agreement, which still requires state regulatory approval, grants Northwell rights to acquire up to 51 percent of the center within five years.

Owned by eight physicians, Surgical Specialty Center of Westchester specializes in cosmetic surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery, ophthalmologic and oculoplastic surgery, hand surgery, gynecology, ear nose and throat surgery and oral surgery. The center treats nearly 3,500 patients annually, according to Northwell, in an approximately 11,000-square-foot facility with four operating rooms, five preoperative stations and a six-bed post-anesthesia care unit.

Dr. Samuel J. Beran, medical director of Surgical Specialty Center of Westchester, in the announcement said the practice”™s affiliation with Northwell “will allow us access to the strengths of one of the leading health care systems in the nation. Because both SSCW and Northwell are committed to maintaining and strengthening our patient-centered culture.”

Amid a competitive surge of hospital consolidations that followed the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, Northwell Health, formerly the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, entered the Westchester health care market in 2014 with its acquisition of two community hospitals, Phelps Memorial Hospital in Sleepy Hollow and Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco. In 2016, it teamed with GoHealth Urgent Care to open three urgent care centers in New Rochelle, Tarrytown and Yorktown Heights.

On March 1, Westchester Health Associates, a 130-provider medical group with 39 locations in Westchester and Putnam counties and Stamford, will join Northwell Health Physician Partners. And Northwell is awaiting state approval of its acquisition of Visiting Nurse Association of Hudson Valley, a nonprofit home health care agency based in Tarrytown.

Northwell officials in Great Neck said the latest agreement with Surgical Specialty Center marks the ninth joint venture that Northwell Health has formed with operators of ambulatory surgery centers, with plans to build out a network totaling more than 20 centers in the metropolitan area in the coming years.