What is the nature of the final agreement between Stony Brook University and Eastern Long Island Hospital?
Effective July 1, 2019, Eastern Long Island Hospital, a 70-bed facility located on the North Fork of Long Island, becomes part of the Stony Brook Medicine healthcare system as a campus of Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH). Now known as Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital (SBELIH), it will now provide care under SBUH’s New York State operating license.
How will this impact employees and physicians at the two hospitals?
Employees’ and physicians’ experiences will not change. Eastern Long Island Hospital employees will maintain their status as private sector employees. Any representation of employees by the private sector unions at ELIH and collective bargaining agreements at EIIH will not be affected.
What is the historical relationship between SBUH and ELIH?
The two hospitals have been working collaboratively for more than a decade, along with Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, to provide healthcare services to the East End of Long Island, with services that are highly complementary in nature. SBUH, Southampton Hospital and Eastern Long Island Hospital formally affiliated in 2008, as recommended by the Berger Commission Report issued by New York State Department of Health in 2006.
What approvals were needed to finalize the relationship?
The agreement between SBELIH and Stony Brook required a series of reviews and approvals by various New York State regulatory and legislative authorities, including the NYS Attorney General’s Office, the NYS Office of the State Comptroller, the NYS Division of the Budget, the NYS Department of Health and the SUNY Board of Trustees. It also required final approval from the Suffolk County Supreme Court.
Are Stony Brook services being offered at ELIH now?
Yes. Together, SBELIH and Stony Brook University Hospital already provide the region’s leading behavioral health programs on Long Island. SBELIH is a clinical campus and training site for Stony Brook Medicine, which helps to increase the number of physicians, specialists, allied health professionals and nurses on the East End of Long Island.
Stony Brook Medicine already provides a psychiatric residency program at SBELIH, and a new Mastery in General Surgery Fellowship program provides surgical fellows with four months of rural surgery experience and improves surgical physician staffing in the SBELIH Operating Rooms and Emergency Department. Surgeons from Stony Brook Southampton Hospital’s Meeting House Lane Medical Practice are providing additional physician coverage at SBELIH.
In addition, Stony Brook Medicine has improved emergency care on the North Fork with two first responder emergency vehicles called “fly cars,” staffed by paramedics for the highest possible level of pre-hospital emergency care.
What additional services and patient benefits are planned for the future?
Working under one operating license, SBUH, SBELIH and Stony Brook Southampton Hospital (SBSH) will improve healthcare quality and access, coordinate care, and improve efficiency for patients by sharing resources and managing the flow of patients between facilities.
To capitalize on Stony Brook’s expertise as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, SBELIH and SBUH are already planning a telehealth program, which will provide Shelter Island residents with direct access to Stony Brook Medicine specialists for stroke care, allowing SBELIH to become a designated stroke center. Through Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, wellness services are being offered in Greenport at the Ed & Phyllis Davis Wellness Institute adjacent to SBELIH. Together, the three hospitals will identify and address additional healthcare service gaps for East End residents, such as neurology, gynecology, pulmonology, hematology/oncology and orthopedics.
How will hospital patients benefit from this relationship?
The relationship provides SBELIH patients with greater access to Stony Brook Medicine’s specialists, clinical trials and advanced technology, combined with the convenience and personalized care of a community-based hospital. Patients also will benefit from the hospitals’ ability to match the level of care provided to the level of care needed. Patients will receive the best possible care in the facility best suited to their needs. This is especially important for critically ill and emergency patients who may need to be transferred to a higher level of care.
The relationship also helps to improve efficiency, control costs and better coordinate care for patients across Suffolk County and beyond by creating a broader, stronger network of hospitals and healthcare providers who comprise the Stony Brook Medicine healthcare system.
What will the transition mean for SBELIH patients with various insurances?
Patients with in-network insurance coverage at Eastern Long Island Hospital prior to the transition will continue to have in-network coverage at SBELIH after the transition.
What will happen to the Eastern Long Island Hospital Foundation?
Established in 2006, the ELIH Foundation will continue its mission to secure funds for capital improvements and new technologies for ELIH and its medical staff. The Foundation develops and manages all resources and assets of the Foundation in support of ELIH’s mission and goals. It develops and maintains a positive relationship between the hospital, healthcare providers and the community.
