Lake Shore Health Care Center

TLC Health Network’s impending merger with Brooks Memorial Hospital and affiliation with Kaleida by the end of this year will manifest visibly at the Irving campus not long after.

Over a week ago, TLC announced its exit from bankruptcy and future plans with Brooks and Kaleida. Both of those processes require the organization to be financially viable with targeted services.

“The first step in our transformation plan is to merge with Brooks then affiliate with Kaleida. The new replacement Brooks hospital in Fredonia will provide more traditional hospital care while the TLC campus will provide expanded outpatient and specialty inpatient care,” TLC President and CEO John Galati told the OBSERVER.According to a release, those services will include a 20-bed inpatient mental health unit, a five- to 10-bed observation unit (up to 48-hour stay), surgery including short-stay general, orthopedic surgery, ambulatory surgery, pulmonary function testing, respiratory therapy, stress testing, endoscopy, imaging (radiology), lab, pharmacy, urgent care, emergency department, certified home health care, physical therapy in Irving and Gowanda, primary care in Gowanda and Forestville and chemical dependency outpatient clinics in Derby and Cassadaga.

The hospital will also be cutting and adding services.

CUTS

Lake Shore is focusing on efficiencies, according to the release. Therefore, it plans to discontinue its acute care/med-surg and nursing home/rehab units effective this Thursday, Nov. 30. The last patient admission dates for those units were Nov. 21 for sub-acute rehab care and this Monday, Nov. 27, for acute med-surg care.

“Regarding the discontinuation of the sub-acute rehab program in the nursing home the last patient will be discharged home the end of next week,” Galati explained Wednesday. “This is also the case with the acute medical-surgical unit which will be converted to a five- to 10-observation bed unit that has a limit of a two-day length of stay for patients.”

ADDITIONS

The hospital will also be adding one service and reorganizing another into something new. A 20-bed inpatient chemical dependency unit and a Musculoskeletal Center are expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2018.

“There continues to be a community need for expanded outpatient services that are represented by these programs,” Galati said.

The units will be taking up the space previously used by the nursing home.

“The 20-bed Chemical Dependency/Substance Use Disorder Unit will be located on the third floor of the hospital that has some partial renovations already completed for 20 private patient rooms,” Galati explained. “It was space that in the past was used for nursing home residents. The Certificate of Need Application has been approved by the Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services and the New York State Department of Health. Additional renovations have been started that includes work on some patient rooms, bathrooms and heating/ventilation/air conditioning work.”

The Musculoskeletal Center combines many services already being offered and one that isn’t, according to Galati.

“The Musculoskeletal Center is actually a consolidation or centralization of currently provided rehab services located throughout the hospital,” he said. “These include physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, cardiac rehab, orthopedic practice, wellness education and a newly created gym. The location is adjacent to the orthopedic practice in a former wing of the nursing home on the first floor. There are renovations underway in this area exclusive of the orthopedic practice that remains in operation.”

Galati said February or March are expected completion dates.

“In approaching the end of Bankruptcy, appreciation is extended to the dedicated employees, staff, Medical Staff, Board of Directors, donors, friends and community that remained loyal throughout the bankruptcy period. Without their hard work and commitment TLC would not have achieved this milestone in its history. We are grateful for all of their individual and collective efforts that have allowed the continuation of quality health care to be delivered by TLC as we look forward to a better future,” the board of directors and administration said in a press release.