Press release:
United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia has joined Rochester Regional Health System, becoming a full affiliate effective January 1, 2015. Rochester Regional is the newly formed health system that combined Rochester General and Unity Health Systems in July 2014.
The Genesee County hospital announced its intention to join Rochester Regional in February 2014. While United Memorial is very strong financially, hospital leaders recognized that changes in health care threatened the long-term outlook for independent rural health care providers. Joining the large regional system will enable continued and even enhanced local services for Batavia-area patients. United Memorial will maintain its name and a local board, and will continue its longstanding tradition of providing a wide range of medical and acute care services in Batavia.
“The full affiliation of United Memorial is another example of how Rochester Regional is creating a model health care system that helps communities get healthy and stay healthy,” said Eric J. Bieber, MD, President & CEO, Rochester Regional Health System. “Our model will maintain access and control cost by keeping care within the local community with seamless access to the highest quality specialty acute care for patients throughout the region, no matter where you live or through which system-wide door you enter.”
The partnership mirrors a trend among successful hospitals and health care systems nationwide. These system affiliations address the economic realities that community hospitals face with health care reform, enabling them to continue to offer a full range of primary and secondary services locally, while providing a gateway to the best clinical care available when more highly specialized care and technology – like cardiac surgery, stroke services, neurosurgery, and other complex services – are required.
“Joining Rochester Regional Health System secures our ability to provide quality health care to our community for the long-term,” said Dan Ireland, President, United Memorial Medical Center.
“Though most patients won’t notice any difference at the hospital, they will benefit from greater access to specialized services and technology available through the Rochester Regional network.”
The two health care institutions are no strangers to each other, having collaborated in the areas of Cardiology, Pathology, Surgery, Urology and Gastroenterology since 2008, and most recently partnered to open a Cancer & Infusion Center at United Memorial.
In making its decision to affiliate with Rochester Regional in early 2014, the United Memorial board cited the system’s longstanding focus on high-quality patient care and safety, its expertise in clinical integration, its comprehensive medical and surgical specialties that will enhance existing services available in the Batavia community, and its successful track record of collaboration with smaller acute care hospitals and physicians.
