Westchester Medical Center in talks with Bon Secours Charity

Westchester Medical Center has made another move to expand its community reach and services in the Hudson Valley through a potential joint venture with Bon Secours Health System Inc. that would give Westchester Medical Center majority control and management of the three-hospital Bon Secours Charity Health System in the region.

Officials at the Valhalla hospital and Bon Secours on Monday announced they are in exclusive discussions to explore a joint-venture corporate relationship. Westchester Medical Center would become the majority co-member of Bon Secours Charity Health System, which serves about 425,000 people in Rockland, Orange and Sullivan counties; Pike County, Pa.; and New Jersey”™s Sussex, Passaic and Bergen counties, according to the announcement.

With about 2,500 employees and 800 physicians with staff privileges, the Bon Secours Charity network of health care facilities includes Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Suffern, Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis and St. Anthony Community Hospital in Warwick.

It is part of Bon Secours Health System, a $3.3 billion Catholic nonprofit based in Marriottsville, Md. Dr. Mary Leahy, CEO of Bon Secours Charity Health System, in the joint announcement said a Bon Secours Charity joint venture would remain a Catholic health care ministry with Bon Secours Health System and the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth in New Jersey as members and religious sponsors.

The negotiating parties said a joint venture, with management from Westchester MedicalCenter and support from Bon Secours Health System, will improve and sustain high-quality, compassionate health care through population health management with special emphasis on care for the most vulnerable low-income residents and Medicaid recipients.

Mark Nantz, executive vice president of Bon Secours Health System, said a joint venture with Westchester Medical Center “represents an unparalleled opportunity to enhance the quality of services for the people in the region and would preserve and expand local health care. ”¦ We believe this joint venture could achieve the best for both our organizations.”

Westchester Medical Center board Chairman Mark Tulis said the joint-venture talks are part of a long-term, broad strategic planning effort by the hospital to invest in the Hudson Valley. “Our vision is to partner to build on Bon Secours”™ strong foundation, enhance what is available and foster integration and coordination, which will require the long-term viability of these partners and more,” he said.

In a year of acquisitions and new affiliations between major metropolitan health systems and community hospitals that will reshape the health care landscape in Westchester County, Westchester Medical Center ventured north and in May acquired the former St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court proceeding. The former Roman Catholic hospital was renamed MidHudson Regional Hospital of Westchester Medical Center.