NY health care mergers in Hudson Valley: Who owns what? Are mergers hurting patients?
Health care mergers across the Hudson Valley region have left some patients scrambling to keep pace with seemingly ever-evolving barriers to booking and paying for medical services.
From longer waits for some doctor visits to growing medical billing bureaucracies, health care consolidation pitfalls abound amid an historic wave of hospital and physician group mergers over the past decade, according to feedback to the USA TODAY Network audience outreach and Better Business Bureau complaints data.
Concerns that health care mergers were contributing to higher prices and lower quality for patients nationally also fueled sweeping federal antitrust measures, including new Federal Trade Commission guidelines released last month that aim to reduce negative fallout of corporate takeovers.
“Decades of corporate consolidation has contributed to soaring costs across health care markets, with Americans now paying more for everything from life-saving medicines to a hospital visit,” FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said in a statement.
“Safeguarding fair competition and rooting out unlawful business practices in health care markets is a top priority" for the federal agency, Khan added.
To improve understanding of the impact in New York, USA TODAY Network gathered the following details about key players in the Hudson Valley health care landscape, as well as crucial state resources for filing complaints and challenging questionable health care practices.
Hudson Valley health care merger wars: Who owns what?
Some of the most recent significant health care mergers involved physician groups joining regional and national health systems.
In 2022, CareMount Medical, which is part of a group of over 2,100 providers serving more than 1.6 million patients throughout the Hudson Valley and New York City, finalized its move to join Optum, one of the largest owners of provider groups in the country, with 53,000 physicians nationally.
Westmed Medical Group, which has nearly 500 physicians and 1,500 clinical employees at sites across Westchester County in New York and Connecticut, joined Summit Health, a medical network with more than 12,000 workers across five states.
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These moves came after New York City and Long Island-based health systems pushed into the Hudson Valley, creating regional hospital networks locked in heated competition for patients. They include:
Westchester Medical Center Health Network, or WMC Health, which is a 1,700-bed health care system with nine hospitals across the Hudson Valley. Overall, it has more than 13,000 workers and has nearly 3,000 attending physicians.
Montefiore Health System, which spans 10 hospitals and more than 200 outpatient ambulatory care sites across New York City and the Hudson Valley.
Northwell Health, which has 21 hospitals and more than 850 outpatient facilities across Long Island, the Hudson Valley and other part of the state.
NewYork-Presbyterian Health System, which includes more than 190 sites across New York City and the Hudson Valley, including two hospitals in Westchester County.
Other Hudson Valley health systems included Nuvance Health, which has seven hospitals across Connecticut and New York, and Garnet Health, which has more than 4,150 workers.
Further, specialty providers such as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Hospital for Special Surgery have opened sites in Westchester, increasing the pressure on existing players.
How to file a NY health care complaint
The state Department of Health has oversight duties related to hospital and health-related complaints.
Details about filing online complaints are available through the agency's website, health.ny.gov, or physician practice complaints through its Office of Professional Medical Conduct hotline: 1-800-663-6114.
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Other state agencies, such as the Department of Financial Services, are equipped to handle some complaints related to health finances, such as illegal surprise medical billing, through the hotline (800) 342-3736, or via email at surprisemedicalbills@dfs.ny.gov.
The state Attorney General's Office also has a health bureau complaint hotline: 1-800-428-9071, or online portal at ag.ny.gov.
What's your story?
Do you believe you've experienced a decline in health care service or outcomes due to medical mergers in the Hudson Valley, particularly in Westchester and Rockland Counties?
We want to hear about your experience as we report further on this topic. Please fill out the online form below, or scan the QR code in print. You may be contacted for further information by our reporters.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Hudson Valley health mergers: Are they hurting patients? Tell us
