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Nuvance Health to join Northwell
Mar 09, 2024
Bridget Starr Taylor
NEW HYDE PARK, N.Y. — Nuvance Health will combine with Northwell Health, the largest health provider in New York state, to form a 28-hospital system that spans the New York-Connecticut border, the two organizations announced Wednesday, Feb. 28.
Before the agreement is finalized, it must be approved by New York, Connecticut and the Federal Trade Commission.
Nuvance Health, based in Danbury, Connecticut, operates seven hospitals in western Connecticut and Dutchess County, including Sharon Hospital and Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck, while Northwell, based in New Hyde Park, operates 21 hospitals and nearly 900 outpatient facilities. According to Northwell, its 85,000 employees also make the system the largest private employer in New York state.
“This partnership opens a new and exciting chapter for Northwell and Nuvance and provides an incredible opportunity to enhance both health systems and take patient care and services to an even higher level,” said Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health, in a statement.
Nuvance Health, has been struggling financially. At Sharon Hospital, which loses some $20 million annually, Nuvance hoped to cut losses by closing the maternity ward, which it said loses $3 million a year. Its application to close the unit was denied by Connecticut in February.
Sharon Hospital’s losses are not unique in the Nuvance network. Nuvance as a whole, apart from a $6 million net gain in 2021, has been operating at annual net losses of eight and nine figures since its formation in 2019.
Last summer, its outstanding debt was downgraded again by S&P and by Moody’s; Moody’s noted that Nuvance’s “next several quarters” would be “pivotal.” For its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2023, Nuvance posted a net loss of $121.5 million.
In a statement, Dr. John M. Murphy, president and CEO of Nuvance Health, said that “By joining forces with Northwell Health, we are taking a giant leap forward in our shared mission to enhance the quality, accessibility and equity of the health care we provide to our communities.”
In their joint announcement, the two companies stated that “Northwell will make significant investments in Nuvance Health,” and that the “integration” would create more, and better, health care jobs.
Asked what this means in Sharon, Sharon Hospital CEO Christina McCulloch noted that “the details of what will happen, if all gets approved” and the Nuvance system becomes part of Northwell Health, “are yet to be determined.” But, she said, “Northwell has agreed to invest in all of the [Nuvance] hospitals if this does come to be” and if the deal gets approved, the agreement will strengthen SH’s ability to provide care.”
“The news of Nuvance’s merger into Northwell Health comes at a time of general consolidation of healthcare systems across our state,” observed state Rep. Maria Horn (D-64).
“I understand the financial challenges Nuvance has been facing,” said Senate Republican Leader Stephen Harding, whose district includes New Milford and Sharon. He continued: “I am encouraged to hear that ‘patient-facing’ jobs are not in jeopardy. I am also encouraged to hear that key investments will be made and that health care access will be increase.”
Harding added: “however, like many, I have significant concerns for myself and my fellow neighbors in the 30th Senate District. Ensuring that existing medical services in our local hospitals remain fully open and operational, particularly Sharon Hospital’s Labor and Delivery Unit, is of the utmost importance to me, and I hope it remains of utmost importance to Connecticut’s Office of Health Strategy as they review this merger.”
McCulloch noted that the arrangement between Nuvance and Northwell is not legally considered a merger or an acquisition but an “agreement.”
Also noting Nuvance’s financial difficulties, District 19 Dutchess County Legislator Chris Drago said he hoped that this deal would end Nuvance’s attempts to cut services at Sharon Hospital. He also said that he hopes that it will improve the hospital’s ability to attract and retain staff and medical talent to better serve the community.
“I do worry that typically consolidation drives cost up and quality down,” he said. “I’m cautiously optimistic.”
Horn shared: “In my conversations with Sharon Hospital leadership, it has been suggested that the significant resources of the new system will lead to increased support for Sharon Hospital and the community it serves. I look forward to learning about the system’s strategic commitment to Sharon Hospital specifically, and look forward to a public process at which these questions can be addressed.”
Nuvance and Northwell describe an “integrated healthcare system.” The organizations say that the deal will grant “local communities” access to “coordinated care across western Connecticut, the Hudson Valley, New York City and Long Island.” They also promise that both Northwell and Nuvance will “continue to provide care to anyone, regardless of their ability to pay.”
The terms of the deal, which is still subject to state and federal approval, are not clear for Sharon Hospital, said McCulloch.
Amy Forni, a spokeperson for Nuvance Health, said that Nuvance expects to be filing for approval for the agreement in the coming months.
McCulloch noted that the regulatory and approval process could, Nuvance estimates, take a year or more.
Sharon Hospital timeline
1909 — Sharon Hospital is founded in a rented house by Dr. Jerome Chaffee.
1916 — A new building opens with 16 beds and three nurses.
1947 — Dr. Chaffee dies.
2002 — The nonprofit hospital is purchased by Essent Healthcare of Tennessee, becoming the first for-profit hospital in the state. A group called Save the Hospital was formed to protest the sale.
2011 — Essent Healthcare merges with RegionalCare Hospital Partners, also based in Tennessee.
2016 — Health Quest takes over Sharon Hospital from Essent and it becomes a nonprofit again.Health Quest was formed from the merger of three hospitals: Vassar Brothers in Poughkeepsie; Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck; and Putnam Hospital Center in Carmel.
2019 — Health Quest merges with Western CT Health Network, with hospitals in Danbury, Norwalk and New Milford, to become Nuvance Health.
2024 — Nuvance Health announced plan to join nonprofit hospital system Northwell Health.
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Bobbie C. Palmer
Mar 08, 2024
LAKEVILLE — Bobbie C. Palmer, born in Lakeville on Jan. 13, 1948, passed away peacefully on March 4, 2024. He is survived by his loving wife, Marva J. Palmer, son Marc (Sandra) Palmer, daughter Erica (Fleming) Wilson, two grandchildren, Andrew Yost and Ciara Wilson, and two great grandchildren. He was predeceased by his parents Walter and Francis Palmer and four brothers; Henry Palmer, William Palmer, John Palmer and Walter Palmer Jr.
He leaves behind a legacy of love, kindness, and laughter that will be cherished by his family and those closest to him.
Bobbie was selfless and most known for his generosity and sense of humor. His spirit and comedic, joking banter would light up any room. He was a loving and caring soul who sacrificed to give so much for his family — the epitome of what an outstanding father, grandfather and husband is.
He was dedicated and served our country in the U.S. Air Force. He was smart and worked as an analyst at Travelers Insurance for almost 40 years. He also spent a lot of time giving back to help others — from volunteering, teaching adults to read and helping his neighbors.
Bobbie also loved to travel and had a passion for being outdoors — barbecuing, gardening, long walks or simply sitting outside taking in nature. One could also find Bobbie glued to the television watching a NY Giants game or NASCAR racing. He thoroughly enjoyed watching both.
If you knew Bobbie and wanted to honor his life —remember life is short. Tomorrow is not promised. If there is something you want to do or see, do it! Be kind and give back. If you have it to give… give it! Love hard, laugh often!
A funeral service will be held at Newkirk-Palmer Funeral Home, 118 Main St., Canaan, CT at 11 a.m. Friday, March 15. The interment ceremony afterward will be with family.
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Film still from “Radical Wolfe” courtesy of Kino Lorber
If you’ve ever wondered how retrospective documentaries are made, with their dazzling compilation of still images and rare footage spliced between contemporary interviews, The Moviehouse in Millerton, New York, offered a behind-the-scenes peek into how “the sausage is made” with a screening of director Richard Dewey’s biographical film “Radical Wolfe” on Saturday, March 2.
Coinciding with the late Tom Wolfe’s birthday, “Radical Wolfe,” now available to view on Netflix, is the first feature-length documentary to explore the life and career of the enigmatic Southern satirist, city-dwelling sartorial icon and pioneer of New Journalism — a subjective, lyrical style of long-form nonfiction that made Wolfe a celebrity in the pages of Esquire and vaulted him to the top of the best-seller lists with his drug-culture chronicle “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” and his first novel, “The Bonfire of The Vanities.”
The film is rife with local connections, featuring talking-head anecdotes by Wolfe’s former agent and Sharon resident Lynn Nesbit as well as Wolfe contemporary Gay Talese of Roxbury and Christopher Buckley, the son of the late Sharon resident William F. Buckley Jr., who interviewed Wolfe on PBS’ “Firing Line” in 1970.
Present at The Moviehouse was the film editor for “Radical Wolfe,” Brian Gersten, a Millerton resident who recently worked on “Enter The Slipstream,” documenting an American cycling team through the 2020 season of the Tour de France, and the film’s archival producer, Rich Remsberg of North Adams, Massachusetts, a two-time Emmy winner who recently produced “Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street” for HBO.
Remsberg admitted that in his archival search, there is a competitive sense of “trophy hunting” — the quest for a previously unseen piece of footage that will add an exclusive peek into the past of a film’s subject. “The trophy-hunting aspect of [archival producing] is the rarity of a clip,” he said at The Moviehouse. “I did a piece about George Lucas recently and found an interview with his high school art teacher. It was just mind-blowing. I found four interviews with Lucas before he became famous. But the director only used two minutes. And you can’t get hung up on, ‘But it’s rare!’ You have to consider how useful it is.”
Remsberg added: “One of my favorite sequences in this film is when Wolfe is being introduced onto all these talk shows, and we spliced ‘Ladies and gentlemen... Tom Wolfe, Tom Wolfe, Tom Wolfe, Tom Wolfe…’ And you see the rapid succession of him entering, shaking hands, doing his ‘hair thing’ three or four times, then crossing his legs three or four times. Beautiful rhythm to it, right? It’s really the musicality of filmmaking.”
“I think, as you could tell from how we structured the film, Tom Wolfe’s personal life was private. There wasn’t much there, to be perfectly honest. So the substance was all in the writing,” said Gersten on the documentary editing process. “If you open a book of his, it has so much style, so much is going on, and we did our best to replicate that in the editing style of the film. I think the quick cuts are effective at certain points. At other points, you want to let the story tell itself. When Tom Wolfe describes his interaction with [then-U.S. Sen. John F.] Kennedy, there’s no reason to stylize that. You want to hear Wolfe’s words.”
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Art on view this March
Mar 06, 2024
New Risen
While there are area galleries that have closed for the season, waiting to emerge with programming when the spring truly springs up, there are still plenty of art exhibitions worth seeking out this March.
At Geary Contemporary in Millerton, founded by Jack Geary and Dolly Bross Geary, Will Hutnick’s “Satellite” is a collection of medium- and large-scale acrylic on canvas abstracts that introduce mixtures of wax pastel, sand and colored pencil to create topographical-like changes in texture. Silhouettes of leaves float across seismic vibration lines in the sand while a craterous moon emerges on the horizon, all like a desert planet seen through a glitching kaleidoscope. Hutnick, a resident of Sharon and director of artistic programming at The Wassaic Project in Amenia, New York, will discuss his work at Geary with New York Times art writer Laura van Straaten Saturday, March 9, at 5 p.m.
In Falls Village, the vacant bank building at 105 Main St., with its white masonry exterior and revolving glass door, has recently been adopted by David Noonan and digital abstract artist Millree Hughes for the duo’s self-described “roving gallery” New Risen. The second show curated by Noonan and Hughes, “Faraway, So Close” is on display through Saturday, March 23. In addition to one of Hughes' own electrically lit disco "Matrix" landscapes, the group show features a pair of bedroom-eyed oil portraits by Maureen Dougherty, who recently exhibited at Cheim & Read before the 26-year-old New York City gallery closed its doors in December 2023, as well as an enigmatic and sensuously pouty graphite drawing of an astronaut by Judith Eisler, who lives in Warren and has exhibited work at Casey Kaplan in New York, with praise from The New Yorker’s Hilton Als.
“Spooky Action #2” by Will HutnickAlexander Wilburn
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