State Enables Hospital Merger to Go Forward

Stony Brook University Hospital and Southampton Hospital are moving forward with long-awaited plans to merge, following a unanimous vote on Monday by the board of trustees of the State University of New York in favor of enabling the hospitals to work together more closely. The hospitals had signed a non-binding letter of intent to affiliate in August of 2012.

Although several regulatory hurdles remain to be cleared, which are expected to take six months to a year, administrators will now be able to focus on fund-raising for a planned $225 million hospital at the Stony Brook University Southampton campus. Its completion is estimated to be at least three to five years away.

Robert S. Chaloner, Southampton Hospital president and chief executive officer, said by phone Tuesday that the merger is “not just about that hospital. It’s really about building a network of services across the region.”

Mr. Chaloner said the average patient might not notice an immediate change, but that Southampton’s medical staff would be strengthened as its 125-bed facility integrates with Stony Brook.

“Things should be easier in terms of numbers of doctors,” Mr. Chaloner said, pointing to the periodic shortages and challenges Southampton has faced in recruiting and retaining medical staff.

He said the Southampton Hospital board wants to increase and strengthen services in the Town of East Hampton, pointing to the need for a bigger satellite facility or “a more robust urgent care facility” with more radiology and lab testing. The existing East Hampton Urgent Care facility doesn’t offer CT scanning or M.R.I. (magnetic resonance imaging) services. “I live in East Hampton myself, and I know what people are feeling out there,” he said.

“I really envision a core facility and then a series of smaller facilities,” he said. “We can then scale the hospital here appropriately.”

Some integration has already begun. A family practice residency program, for example, was introduced at Southampton after Stony Brook and Southampton signed the letter of intent.

Southampton Hospital will operate under Stony Brook’s state operating license, and Southampton’s employees will continue to work under their current labor agreement.

There are advantages to being a partof a bigger health care system, Mr. Chaloner said. His hope is that some Southampton patients, like those experiencing a stroke, who may have had to be transferred to Stony Brook for more advanced care, will now be able to be treated closer to home as clinical expertise rises.

“For a little community hospital to stand alone going into the future with technology and regulatory pressures, it is going to be increasingly difficult,” he said.

Correction: Southampton Hospital will operate under Stony Brook’s state operating certificate, and Southampton Hospital's employees will remain Southampton's employees. An earlier version reported the hospital would not operate under Stony Brook's license, and that Stony Brook would employ Southampton's employees.