$3.9 million grant awared for affiliation between Bassett Hospital and A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital

The Daily Star reported that plans for an affiliation of Bassett Healthcare and A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital received grant funding.

Overall, the legislature provided $436 million in the budget for Health care Efficiency and Affordability Law, or HEAL, of New York State grants to address the needs of health facilities statewide, according to an announcement by Gov. David Paterson. The funds are provided by the state Department of Health and Dormitory Authority.

A $3.9 million grant was awarded to facilitate the proposed affiliation between Bassett in Cooperstown and Fox Hospital in Oneonta, according to a joint release from the two organizations.

The two have been planning for months to achieve greater operating efficiencies and responsiveness to the community. That could be completed later this year, officials from both organizations said.

The funds will be used, according to the release, as follows: $2 million to Fox Hospital for restructuring existing debt; $400,000 to Fox to undertake a comprehensive master facility planning process; $500,000 to support information technology costs involved in connecting the two facilities; $300,000 to support legal activities; $500,000 to support the establishment of Bassett clinical services at FoxCare Center; and $200,000 to assist in recruiting health care provides to serve the greater Oneonta community.

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