Saratoga Hospital and Albany Medical Center have signed a letter of intent to affiliate, paving the way for a more comprehensive, cost-effective and integrated health care system. Leaders of both hospitals announced plans for the partnership today and expect to finalize the affiliation during 2016.
In a news conference, Saratoga Hospital President and CEO Angelo G. Calbone and Albany Medical Center President and CEO James J. Barba said the planned collaboration builds on partnerships already in place. A prime example is the highly successful joint venture, Malta Med Emergent Care, in Malta. Physicians and medical teams from Saratoga Hospital and Albany Medical Center have been working there together since June 2013, providing comprehensive 24/7 urgent care and higher-level services. Another example is a collaboration, launched in 2009, to enhance stroke care by enabling real-time sharing of diagnostic information. Dozens of lives have been saved as a result.
"For over a century our goal has been to provide the best possible medical care to residents of the Saratoga region. Partnering with Albany Medical Center allows us to continue elevating the level of care and offering increasingly sophisticated diagnostic and treatment procedures for our growing community," Calbone said.
"The affiliation we announce today is another milestone in our shared history of partnering to better serve the region," Barba said. "Together, Albany Medical Center and Saratoga Hospital have demonstrated that partnership is good medicine. Together we will continue to make the highest quality medical services in the region more accessible to more of our residents."
Under the terms of the letter of intent, Saratoga Hospital will retain its name, local leadership and governance, and oversight of services delivered in the community. The existing medical staff at Saratoga Hospital will remain part of the hospital.
"One of the primary goals of the partnership is to protect Saratoga Hospital’s future—to preserve our ability to continue to grow and provide the care our community needs and deserves," Calbone said.
"In addition, affiliating with Northeastern New York’s only academic health sciences center—with its medical school and cutting-edge research programs—enhances the ability of our medical team and patients to access advanced options that are available only through that type of institution."
