Mt. Alverno closes
Warwick. The Westchester Medical Center Health Network plans new role for the skilled nursing care facility. The decision does not affect Schervier Pavilion and St. Anthony Community Hospital.
| 14 Jul 2023 | 02:16
The Westchester Medical Center Health Network has closed Mt. Alverno, its skilled nursing care facility, and will use the building for administrative services. All patients have been transferred to other facilities and employees have been offered other positions within the health network.
The Westchester Medical Center Health Network has discontinued operations at Mt. Alverno Center and will focus resources on Schervier Pavilion and St. Anthony Community Hospital.
Officials from the medical center said there were many reasons contributing to its decision: population demographics; availability of skilled labor in a post-COVID society; and the choices that come with management of multiple facilities and aligning them with the needs of patients.
In recent times, resident enrollment declined even as the population grew older.
‘After much thoughtful consideration, we decided to discontinue operations’
Helene Guss, the director of network marketing and communications at Westchester Medical Center Health Network, provided the following statement on its decision to discontinue operations at Mt. Alverno:
“Mt. Alverno Center provided skilled nursing care here in the Warwick community for more than 50 years.
“In recent times, resident enrollment declined and, after much thoughtful consideration, we decided to discontinue operations at Mt. Alverno Center and focus resources on Schervier Pavilion and St. Anthony Community Hospital.
“Recognizing the impact this decision would have on Mt. Alverno Center residents, their families and our workforce members, we developed and executed a resident transition support plan.
“Under this plan, we connected residents and their families with other long-term care options, which led to successful transition of all residents of our Mt. Alverno Center to other care facilities in the area.
“Additionally, we offered all colleagues affected by the discontinuation of operations at Mt. Alverno Center opportunities for employment within the WMC Health Network.
“We have no intent to sell the property, and we will continue to use the facility for system operations.”
About Westchester Medical Center Health Network
WMCHealth is a 1,700-bed healthcare system with nine hospitals in New York’s Hudson Valley. WMCHealth has 13,000 workforce members and nearly 3,000 attending physicians. Approximately 600 providers are employed in one of two medical groups – Advanced Physician Services and the Bon Secours Medical Group, which make up WMCHealth Physicians.
For more information, visit www.westchestermedicalcenter.org.
The demographics of aging
The U.S. population, like that of many other developed nations throughout the world, has been rapidly aging. The percentage of people over the age of 85, for example, (the age group requiring the most care) is projected to more than double from 6.6 million in 2019 to 14.4 million in 2040 (a 118 percent increase, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). By 2050, 84 million elderly people will live in America.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects the healthcare field to grow by 3.3 million jobs between 2018 and 2028, making work in a nursing home environment increasingly in demand.
But elder care requires skilled labor with specific people care and elder care skills. Most of those jobs had been filled by qualified immigrants in recent decades, like the field of agriculture. But America’s immigration policies have not kept pace with its aging demographics, and now the country faces a caregiver shortage as Americans continue to obtain advanced degrees and pursue fields that offer better salaries and benefits.