KAPLOWITZ CALLS FOR TRANSITION
TO PERMANENT MANAGEMENT
AT MEDICAL CENTER
--While area hospitals are being recommended for closure by the State Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century,
Westchester Medical Center is headed
towards financial independence--
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 29, 2006
Contact: Michael B. Kaplowitz
Tel: (914) 995-2848 or (914) 924-3404 cell
Westchester County Legislator Michael B. Kaplowitz (D-I-WF, Somers), chairman of the County Board’s Budget & Appropriations Committee, today announced that he is calling for the transition to permanent management at the Westchester Medical Center to be finalized over the next few months. Since June 2004, the Westchester County Health Care Corporation (WCHCC) has been under contract with Pitts Management Associates, Inc. – the consulting firm that was hired for the purpose of operational restructuring and fiscal turnaround of the Westchester Medical Center. “Since that time, many of the financial goals set forth through this agreement have been realized, and this vital regional tertiary care facility is now on its way to financial stability and independence,” Kaplowitz said in a Resolution he authored and hopes the Legislature will pass.
The Resolution, which Kaplowitz passed through his committee today, notes that the contract between Pitts Management and WCHCC is set to expire on March 31, 2007. Coupled with the fact that the Legislature just passed a measure on Monday that reduced the maximum allowable County-backed credit line for the Medical Center from $85 million to $80 million, Kaplowitz says that “the time is appropriate” for Westchester County Health Care Corporation’s Board of Directors to put permanent management in place at the Medical Center.
“The bottom line is, the time has come for WCHCC’s Board of Directors to complete the transition to permanent management at the Westchester Medical Center, and I would like to see that done by the conclusion of their contract with Pitts Management, March 31, 2007, or as soon as practicable,” Kaplowitz stated.
According to Kaplowitz, in addition to the ongoing financial support provided by Westchester County and the State, the WCHCC Board of Directors, together with Interim President & CEO
Michael Israel and the other members of the Pitts Management Team “have done an excellent job in financially turning around the Westchester Medical Center and have set the institution on its way to financial independence,” he said. “The strength and resolve of the doctors, nurses and other Hospital staff kept the Medical Center going strong while these changes were taking place.”
In a November 29, 2006 letter to the WCHCC Board of Directors Kaplowitz wrote, “I believe this move toward establishing permanent management will send the appropriate signal to the financial community and the general community at large regarding the fiscal well-being of the Medical Center. Further, permanent management will allow the Westchester Medical Center to grow and succeed as contemplated under the 1997 Transition Agreement”.
