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As part of a growing A trend, Westchester
Medical Center is currently planning a new $230 million ambulatory- care pavillion, set to open in 2018.
After polishing off an organic turkey, red quinoa, and crimini mushroom salad, you can mosey over to the boutique and inspect the offerings, which include a $125 handmade beaded necklace and a $46 artisan wood bowl. The two-story floor-to-ceiling windows, dark wood, gray sofas, and vibrant blue-butterfly sculptures gracing the walls evoke the lobby of an upscale hotel. Yet, this is the newly renovated lobby of White Plains Hospital, one of several medical institutions in the county aiming to increase its market share in the coming years.
Within Westchester’s envi- rons are 12 acute-care hospitals (11 lie within county lines, plus Greenwich Hospital, which draws 52 percent of its inpatients from New York, sits just over the border). That’s a lot of compe- tition, say many of the people whose mission it is to fill hospi- tal beds—and coffers. Despite the abundance of local hospitals, the new affiliations and acquisi- tions that have transpired among them, and the angst over declin- ing insurance reimbursements, none of these institutions intend to flatline. People in our region incur more than $1 billion in costs at these hospitals annually. Westchester’s hospitals are vying for their share of that business by ramping up their presence. They’ve invested millions in
new services, buildings, equip- ment, technology, and hotel-like amenities in the dual quest to improve patient care and lure patients to their facilities and away from their rivals down the parkway.
“What many people forget is that hospitals are big business,” says Michael Spicer, CEO of
Saint Joseph’s Medical Center in Yonkers. “Healthcare is becoming very, very competitive. Not only the community hospitals; it’s the big guys, too.”
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