Glens Falls

Albany Medical Center and Glens Falls Hospital officials announced Wednesday that they plan to form an alliance, a process they expect to take several months as they seek outside approvals.

The goal of the new partnership, they said, will be to provide better coordination of care for patients in Warren and Washington counties, and achieve operational efficiencies for each organization. Their governing boards, medical staffs, employees and fundraising arms would remain separate.

Officials from each hospital announced the news Wednesday morning at the Glens Falls Hospital Community Learning Center.

"This move will preserve and protect high-quality healthcare services for the people of our region, and provide our patients with improved access to advanced medical specialists and other resources," said Glens Falls Hospital President and CEO Dianne Shugrue.

Glens Falls is the third regional hospital to link up with Albany Med in this way. Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson and Saratoga Hospital joined Albany Med as affiliates in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

The addition of Glens Falls to that equation would create a system with 1,507 total beds, nearly 60,000 surgeries, 2.5 million outpatient visits and 72,000 hospital admissions a year, officials announced.

"Today's announcement represents another step forward in our goal of developing and solidifying the largest, locally governed health system in our region, and a system that will deliver the most comprehensive and integrated array of care for our communities," said Albany Med President and CEO James Barba.

The hospitals' governing boards adopted an agreement to form an alliance on Tuesday. It still needs approval from the state Department of Health.

Leaders from both organizations said they were driven to affiliate due to the "evolving nature of health care delivery," and said the collaboration will work to enhance patients' experience, provide the best care in the most appropriate setting, improve outcomes, and measurably improve the health of local communities.

The existing alliance between Albany Med, Columbia Memorial and Saratoga hospitals has helped all three organizations save costs on supplies and streamline their use of information technology licenses, external consultants and lab processing, said Albany Med spokesman Jeffrey Gordon.

"There are a lot of things that work to our benefit by collaborating through our leadership, finance and legal shops, and through IT," he said. "We're learning things from each other constantly that help us operate more efficiently."