Responding to changes in the nation”™s health care system, Westchester Medical Center this month has launched what hospital officials call the largest multispecialty cardiovascular practice in Westchester County and the Hudson Valley region.
Headquartered in Hawthorne, Westchester Heart and Vascular opened July 1 with 33 physicians treating patients at seven offices in Westchester, Putnam and Orange counties. In addition to the 6,000-square-foot central office at 19 Bradhurst Ave. in Hawthorne, the practice will operate from offices in Briarcliff Manor, Mount Kisco, White Plains, Carmel and New Windsor and on the hospital campus in Valhalla.
Westchester Medical Center President and CEO Michael D. Israel said 10 new physicians were recruited for the practice, which includes interventional and clinical cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons and vascular surgeons. Another five doctors eventually will join the practice”™s staff of more than 100 health care professionals.
A few years ago, the 800-bed advanced-care hospital employed no staff physicians, said Israel. As doctors and hospitals nationwide have adjusted to changes in the health care system, Westchester Medical Center has come to employ more than 120 physicians. “The whole strategy of the hospital has changed,” he said.
“Our goal is to continue to partner with and support the excellent physicians, hospitals and people in our area who rely on the Medical Center as their advanced-care resource, always focused on providing the appropriate level of care as close to home as possible,” Israel said in a statement announcing the launch.
Israel said hospital officials began discussions last year with physicians in the region, several of whom were in private solo or group practices. “What we were looking to do was put together the premier group of individuals who work very, very well together and can serve the needs of our patients both in Westchester County and the entire Hudson Valley,” he said.
“This is what we”™ve always been about,” he said. “It”™s just really a refinement of what we”™ve been doing over the years.”
Israel said the new practice gives persons in need of advanced cardiovascular services access to a continuum of care in both inpatient and outpatient settings.
