Staten Island merger greased with incentives from OMH
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The Office of Mental Health’s Vital Access Provider Program was instrumental in facilitating a merger agreement between the Staten Island Mental Health Society and Richmond University Medical Center, which was announced yesterday. The deal, which will be finalized in the coming months, will secure the financial position of the Staten Island Mental Health Society, a 120-year-old organization that has struggled to stay afloat in recent years.
“Preserving our services was of the utmost importance for us,” said Fern Zagor, president and chief executive at SIMHS, which operates at 21 locations in the borough.
SIMHS was designated a vital access provider last May, making it eligible for state funding and assistance in creating a plan to ensure the sustainability of its services. Organizations that are open to mergers are favored in the application process for VAP, according to materials on the OMH website.
The two merger partners were awarded nearly $10 million through the VAP program, and OMH is also assisting in creating the financial structure for the deal, said Zagor. Other state agencies and New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene also supported the merger, she said.
For RUMC, the deal is an opportunity to expand its footprint in Staten Island and provide integrated primary and behavioral health care, said Daniel Messina, president and chief executive of the hospital, a clinical affiliate of the Mount Sinai Health Network. He said there will be efforts to co-locate services, including at new facilities that are in the works.
“The ability to be able to look at risk-based contracts and work together in the value-based payment paradigm is something we see as a great opportunity for both organizations,” Messina added.
SIMHS aims to maintain its identity, said Zagor, so the mental health network will keep its name and become a division of RUMC.