//Aging in the Hudson Valley: Is the Healthcare System Ready?
Aging in the Hudson Valley: Is the Healthcare System Ready? 2017-11-27T14:15:23+00:00

Project Description

Reports / Healthcare

Aging in the Hudson Valley:
Is the Healthcare System Ready?

Pattern Study: Healthcare System Underprepared for Aging Hudson Valley

NEWBURGH, July 17, 2014 – An extensive study of the region’s healthcare system released today by Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress finds that hospitals, nursing homes and other providers are not adequately prepared to meet the demands of the region’s aging population.

The 92-page report, “Aging in the Hudson Valley: Is the Healthcare System Ready?” was funded by the Dyson Foundation and was researched and written by Pattern staff under the direction of lead advisor Daniel Aronzon, M.D., former CEO of Vassar Brothers Medical Center, Poughkeepsie. A 17-member panel of healthcare professionals acted in an advisory capacity to the report.

“The findings of this report are a wake-up call for the health care providers in the Hudson Valley,” said March Gallagher, chief strategy office at Pattern for Progress and principal author of the report. “The healthcare system is challenged by issues of quality, by financial struggles, by an inadequate number of beds for the aging population and by an inadequate number of skilled workers to care for the growing population of aging boomers.”

The report makes a series of recommendations. It says the region must look to convert unneeded hospital beds to other uses, prepare for greater need in skilled nursing facility capacity, increase home healthcare delivery, facilitate better end-of-life care, integrate mental health service delivery into physical healthcare, and plan for future workforce development needs regionally.

“We all need to pay attention to the issues identified in the report,” said Dr. Aronzon. “The Hudson Valley’s healthcare community must work together to contain costs and address service delivery needs to meet the demands of an aging population.”