Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center Tries To Diagnose Brooklyn's Hospital Woes
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State officials have identified at least three hospitals in Brooklyn that are on the brink of financial collapse, and to help save a struggling health care network, Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center is trying to overhaul the system. NY1's Health reporter Kafi Drexel filed the following report. Dr. Linda Brady, the president and CEO of Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, is working to head up an integration with beleaguered Brookdale Hospital. The mission to keep more health services viable in central Brooklyn is pretty clear.
"Brookdale is an essential hospital because of where it is located," says Brady. "If you look on a map, there really aren't a lot of hospitals around it, and that combined with the services it delivers, it should not be closed."
Hospital management is already working on proposals and a funding request to the state that would help create a successful marriage of services.
Charged with leading the way with an overhaul of services and integration with Brookdale, Kingsbrook itself was on the brink of collapse just over a decade ago. Management says Kingsbrook turned itself around with a renewed focus on patients and quality of care.
"You have to have growth. You have to manage what you have. I mean, it's really all about how can we make ourselves better so people want to come here," says Brady.
Part of improving efficiencies meant implementing things like a robotic pharmacy dispensary to avoid errors. There has also been more of an emphasis on sub-specialty services, like vascular health. To build a more solid network and partnership with Brookdale, Brady says she would like to implement services like those into much-needed primary care within the community.
A partnership would also mean beefing ambulatory care, with more community access to urgent care-type centers with expanded hours, to help keep emergency rooms from becoming a first line of defense.
"This was not about saving institutions, it wasn't about saving any one hospital. It was really looking at how can our communities best be served," says Brady.
Both Kingsbrook and Brookdale have to jump through numerous hurdles before any real partnership occurs, including Brookdale clearing its debt.
Brookdale's management would not comment on this story.