5 north country health care organizations receive $41 million from state program

Bob Beckstead, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
·3 min read

Feb. 15—POTSDAM — Five area health care organizations will receive a combined $41 million, part of the $658 million in state funding that's designed to protect and transform New York's health care delivery system.

The Statewide Health Care Facility Transformation Program, which is administered by the state Department of Health and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, aims to improve patient care by supporting high-quality facilities serving the inpatient, primary care, mental health, substance use disorder and long-term care needs of communities throughout the state.

Canton-Potsdam Hospital, Citizen Advocates, Clifton-Fine Health Care Corp., River Hospital and United Cerebral Palsy Association of the North Country are among 127 organizations slated to receive funding.

Canton-Potsdam Hospital will receive $7 million for a capital project that will preserve and expand obstetric services in the north country, including rural lactation and childbirth education. In addition, Canton-Potsdam Hospital will receive $3 million to construct a new family medicine clinic and training center for the family medicine rural residency program.

Citizen Advocates will receive $7,426,528 for capital improvements to consolidate and expand services at the Massena clinic and Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic sites. The work will include physical health integration into behavioral health settings, onsite pharmacy, a telemedicine hub and a fitness center.

Clifton-Fine Health Care will receive $16,277,000 for capital improvements to upgrade and modernize the hospital's infrastructure to improve patient safety and welfare.

River Hospital will receive $10,708,481 for capital improvements to upgrade infrastructure and accommodate program growth.

United Cerebral Palsy Association of the North Country will receive $911,153 to renovate two health center locations in Malone and Canton.

Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul announced the funding on Wednesday.

"New Yorkers deserve access to quality health care and a strong, stable, and equitable health care system," she said in a statement. "These grants will provide critical funding for improvements at hospitals and other facilities throughout our state to ensure they deliver the top rate care New Yorkers deserve."

The Statewide Health Care Facility Transformation Program is aimed at supporting efforts to reduce health care costs and improve the health outcomes of New Yorkers by expanding access to inpatient, primary, preventative, and other ambulatory care services as part of regionally integrated health care delivery systems. The awards are also focused on projects which will help ensure the financial sustainability of safety net health care providers, and the preservation or expansion of essential health care services.

The funding was awarded under the second phase of the Statewide Health Care Facility Transformation Program III and the first phase of Statewide Health Care Facility Transformation Program IV. New York has awarded nearly $1.68 billion in total funding through the program.

The state will award an additional $1.15 billion through additional phases of Statewide IV. Gov. Hochul's fiscal year 2024 executive budget includes $1 billion in additional funding to establish phases for Statewide V.