Stony Brook Medicine and Southampton Hospital Take Major Step Toward Stronger Partnership

Non-binding letter of intent calls for Southampton Hospital to join the Stony Brook Medicine healthcare system with the objective of advancing care and potentially building a new hospital on the Stony Brook University Southampton Campus

STONY BROOK, N.Y., October 1, 2012 – Leadership at Stony Brook University, State University of New York, and Southampton Hospital have signed a non-binding letter of intent to strengthen an affiliation in which the 125-bed facility would join the Stony Brook Medicine healthcare system as the two hospitals work more closely to improve healthcare quality and access, coordination of care and efficiency for their patients.

Under the terms of the letter of intent, Southampton Hospital would provide care under Stony Brook University Hospital’s New York State operating license. As the planned collaboration moves forward, Stony Brook and Southampton leadership will comply with collective bargaining agreements with the public unions at Stony Brook University Hospital and the private sector unions at Southampton Hospital. Southampton Hospital employees would maintain their status as private sector employees along with all of their collective bargaining rights.

The letter of intent calls for continuation and strengthening of Southampton Hospital’s clinical services as a high quality community hospital and the maintenance of local and accessible services for the residents of the South Fork of Long Island. A joint advisory committee consisting of members appointed by both hospitals will advise on strategic and community issues for the East End facility.

The letter of intent also calls for launching a Southampton Hospital led philanthropic campaign to raise funds to build a new state-of-the-art Southampton Hospital on Stony Brook University’s Southampton campus – bringing with it the prospect of expanded educational opportunities to train the next generation of healthcare professionals, as well as a real potential for additional healthcare services, jobs and economic development for the East End of Long Island. The new hospital would replace the current 125-bed facility, located at 240 Meeting House Lane in Southampton, which opened in 1909.

According to the terms identified in the letter of intent, the next step in the collaborative process is for the two hospitals to enter the due diligence phase, during which the institutions will exchange financial, business and legal information. A final agreement would also require the approval of various New York State regulatory and legislative authorities and the Southampton Hospital Board of Trustees.

Southampton Hospital and Stony Brook University Hospital have been formally affiliated since 2008, as recommended by the Berger Commission Report issued by New York State Department of Health in 2006. By expanding evidence-based approaches to medical care and disease prevention and through enhancing the training of community-based healthcare professionals, this agreement helps advance Stony Brook Medicine in its continuing role as a leader in improving healthcare delivery and education in the rapidly changing landscape of healthcare reform. The agreement similarly advances and strengthens Southampton Hospital’s over 100 year mission of improving access to the highest quality of healthcare for the communities of the South Fork of Long Island. 

Southampton Hospital is a voluntary, not-for-profit organization with a medical staff of more than 240 physicians, dentists and allied health professionals. It currently operates 16 satellite locations throughout the East End of Long Island. Southampton Hospital already trains a large and growing number of new physicians and delivers excellent care to the residents of the South Fork. The hospital is the largest employer on the South Fork with slightly over 1,000 employees and in its 2011 audit reported excess revenues over expenses of $2.2 million.

Stony Brook University Hospital is a New York State educational corporation with more than 1,000 full-time medical school faculty and affiliated credentialed physicians and over 5500 staff employees. With 597 licensed beds, Stony Brook University Hospital is Suffolk County’s largest hospital and includes the County’s only Level I Trauma Center, Burn Center, Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program, and Bone Marrow Transplant program, amongst other unique services, and the County’s busiest Emergency Department, with nearly 100,000 visits annually.

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About Stony Brook Medicine

Stony Brook Medicine integrates and elevates all of Stony Brook University’s health-related initiatives: education, research and patient care. It includes five Health Sciences schools — Dental Medicine, Health Technology and Management, Medicine, Nursing and Social Welfare — as well as Stony Brook University Hospital and 50 community-based healthcare settings throughout Suffolk County. To learn more, visit www.stonybrookmedicine.edu.

About Southampton Hospital

Since its establishment in 1909, Southampton Hospital has remained faithful to the vision of its founders in providing the very best in medical care to the Eastern Long Island communities. An affiliate of Stony Brook Medicine and a member of the East End Health Alliance, a group of three Long Island hospitals on the North and South Forks, the Hospital offers a full range of inpatient and outpatient services and is staffed by more than 240 physicians, dentists, and allied health professionals representing 48 medical specialties. The Hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission, an agency that rates the quality of care provided by some 20,000 healthcare facilities across the United States. To learn more, visit www.southamptonhospital.org.

CAPTION:

Left to right, announcing the signing of a non-binding letter of intent to strengthen an affiliation between Stony Brook University, State University of New York, and Southampton Hospital in which Southampton Hospital would join the Stony Brook Medicine healthcare system are, left to right: New York State Congressman Tim Bishop (D-Southampton); New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. (I-Southampton); New York State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle (R-Port Jefferson); Kenneth Kaushansky, MD, Senior Vice President, Health Sciences, and Dean, Stony Brook University School of Medicine; Stony Brook University President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD; Robert S. Chaloner, President and Chief Executive Officer, Southampton Hospital; Peter M. Larsen, Southampton Hospital Chair, Board of Directors; and L. Reuven Pasternak, MD, Vice President for Health Systems and Chief Executive Officer, Stony Brook University Hospital.