Why is Catholic Health partnering with Eastern Niagara Hospital?
With the acquisition of Mount St. Mary’s Hospital in 2015, Catholic Health made a firm commitment to the residents of Niagara County to strengthen healthcare in their community. Now, Catholic Health is stepping in to preserve healthcare for the residents of Eastern Niagara County by working with Eastern Niagara Hospital (ENH) to create a new care model that will coordinate care across the region, resulting in less duplication of services, better quality and accessibility, and more efficient use of resources.
What prompted this partnership?
Today’s healthcare environment is very challenging for independent community hospitals. ENH has faced a challenging year with bankruptcy and COVID-19. Both have impacted its financial viability and made it impossible to invest in new technology and upgrade outdated facilities. Faced with ongoing losses, the hospital’s board made the unanimous decision to be proactive and approve the agreement with Catholic Health, assuring the future of healthcare in Eastern Niagara County for generations to come.
What will this new partnership mean for the residents of Eastern Niagara County?
There is no longer uncertainty and questions about the future of healthcare services in Eastern Niagara County. This is the best long-term solution for ENH patients and the community at large. Area residents will still be able to receive the majority of their healthcare close to home. Community-based care will also be expanded through Catholic Health’s extensive physician network, giving Lockport residents increased access to physician specialists, as well as primary care and women’s services providers.
Where will the new hospital be located?
The new hospital will be located in the Town of Lockport off South Transit Road between Shimer Road and Ruhlmann Road, including a large portion of Hall’s Apple Farm. Ground was broken for the new 60,000 square-foot, one-story “hospital of the future” on November 30, 2021.
What is the name of the new hospital?
While the new hospital will serve patients well beyond Lockport, Catholic Health is honoring the tremendous legacy of Lockport Memorial, and those who cared for the community for more than a century, by naming it Lockport Memorial Hospital, a campus of Mount St. Mary’s Hospital.
What services will be in the new hospital?
The new Lockport Memorial Hospital aligns with the contemporary “neighborhood hospital” model, which creates a hospital that is right-sized for the local community. The hospital will house state-of-the-art emergency, inpatient, imaging, and laboratory services as well as medical office space for primary care, women’s health, and specialty medical practices.
When will the new hospital open?
The new hospital will open in fall 2023.
What will happen to Eastern Niagara Hospital after the new hospital opens?
The future of the Eastern Niagara Hospital campus will be determined through the bankruptcy process.
Why not just update the old hospital?
The ENH building is over-sized and inefficient for the volume of patients it serves and the way healthcare is delivered today. The community requires a smaller, better equipped, state-of-the-art facility designed to meet the current healthcare needs of individuals and families in the City and Town of Lockport and beyond.
What will happen to the Ambulatory Surgery and Urgent Care Center on Transit Road?
The facility on Transit Road will continue to provide high quality outpatient surgery, imaging services and urgent care to the Lockport community during the construction of the new facility. With the growth of outpatient surgery, which makes up 75% of ENH’s surgical business, we expect to expand this center to provide more members of the community with convenient access to outpatient surgical care, as well as expand primary and specialty physician services at that location.
What role with Mount St. Mary’s Hospital play?
Mount St. Mary’s will play a vital role supporting the healthcare needs of Eastern Niagara County residents who want to continue to receive high quality care in Niagara County. As the county’s only “A” Safety Grade Hospital named by the Leapfrog Group, an independent healthcare rating agency, Mount St. Mary’s, along with Catholic Health’s entire continuum of care, which has the highest quality and safety in WNY, will be available to meet the specialty care needs of patients across the county, providing a seamless transition of care.
What does this mean for employees at Eastern Niagara Hospital?
The majority of Eastern Niagara Hospital’s 450 employees will remain employed at the hospital and the Ambulatory Care Center/Lockport Imaging Center on South Transit Road while the new hospital is built. Catholic Health will begin exploring employment opportunities that may be available at Mount St. Mary’s Hospital and throughout Catholic Health for any ENH employees affected by these changes, working closely with their union representatives, where applicable.
How will the new hospital be financed?
Catholic Health will be seeking public and private funding in addition to making its own significant investment in this project. Costs and financing are currently under development.
How will this partnership work?
Catholic Health’s innovative approach is a two-year, twofold management agreement to maintain healthcare services during the transition and build a sustainable care model bolstered by its high quality continuum of care and advanced technology. Catholic Health has already invested tens of millions of dollars at Mount St. Mary’s Hospital to support the delivery of high quality care throughout the Niagara region. Catholic Health will work closely with ENH’s leadership team, medical staff, and union partners to develop its transition plans. More specific details will emerge over the coming months, and we will share them as they become available.
What will happen between now and when the new hospital opens?
Catholic Health will provide management oversight and execute a transition plan that will ensure safe, high quality, patient-centered emergency and inpatient services are maintained on the East Avenue campus while the new hospital is built. Inpatient Chemical Dependency beds at both ENH and MSM will be managed by Catholic Health.
Why is this good for the residents of Lockport?
By transitioning care from ENH to a new hospital in the Town of Lockport, we are not only keeping care local, we are providing the community with a modern, first class facility, equipped with the latest technology, to meet their medical and emergency care needs as comfortably and conveniently as possible. Residents across Niagara County will also have fast, direct access to the most complex specialty services, including comprehensive heart, stroke and vascular care, through Catholic Health’s regional network.