Clifton Springs Hospital & Clinic: Hope Springs Eternal
Hospitals
Written by Eric Slack   
Friday, 29 February 2008
Clifton Springs Hospital & Clinic: Hope Springs Eternal - Health Executive - RedCoat Publishing
This suburban-Rochester provider strives to treat mind, body, and spirit.
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Like Ponce de León’s legendary search for the fountain of youth, Clifton Springs Hospital & Clinic sprang into existence through the pursuit of healing waters.

“We date back to 1850 as a water cure facility with mineral baths,” said John Galati, president and CEO. “Taking care of our patients’ physical and mental wellness goes back to our founding.”

John Galati - Clifton Springs Hospital & Clinic: Hope Springs Eternal - Health Executive - RedCoat Publishing
John Galati, President and CEO
The story of Clifton Springs dates back to Dr. Henry Foster, a physician and minister who founded it. Located about 30 minutes from Rochester, the hospital today still respects the mission started by Dr. Foster. There have been many firsts for Clifton Springs Hospital. It was the first hospital in the country to operate an open floor psychiatric unit and the second in the country to have X-ray technology. The American Association of Occupational Therapy was founded at Clifton Springs in 1917. It was also the first in the region to develop a hospitalist program for inpatient care.

Despite the fact Clifton Springs is located relatively close to a major city, the progressive nature of the hospital led it to develop a full array of services that are underserved in the area. Although the hospital doesn’t duplicate programs wherever the market is saturated, there are many things about the hospital that makes it stand out.

Clifton Springs Hospital built itself on a base of specialties and subspecialties. Its ground floor is an acute care hospital. A nursing home with more than 100 beds is on the second and third floors, serving patients with dementia, skilled nursing, and chronic ventilator needs. Another building houses behavioral health programs, with a 30-bed addiction recovery inpatient section and an 18-bed inpatient mental health unit.

The hospital has its own cancer center with chemotherapy and radiation services. Clifton Springs also has cardiology, dialysis, PET/CT, and vascular services, although cardiac cath patients are sent to tertiary centers in Rochester.

Recently, Clifton Springs started a total joint replacement center and a new wound center equipped with two hyperbaric chambers for patients with difficulties healing. They are the only hyperbaric chambers between Syracuse and Buffalo. And as part of its diabetes program, the hospital has the areas only endocrinologist. Although upgrades to these services don’t come cheap, Clifton Springs is just doing what comes naturally.

“Our growth has been both organic and due to public demand. People in rural communities prefer to receive care locally,” Galati said. “So we get input from the community, as well as employees and the physician staff, while keeping in mind what services are needed in the region and our concern for the wellness of our patients.”

One of the main things that originally drew Dr. Foster and others to the region was the mineral baths. The springs brought plenty of people to the area seeking medical treatment and a restful vacation. Although those days are long gone, the springs are not.

In fact, Clifton Springs is pushing to reinvigorate this practice. The Springs Integrative Medicine Center & Spa is a combination of Eastern and Western medical practices designed to bring conventional medicine and integrative therapies into alignment. The inclusion of a naturopathic physician, acupuncturists, massage therapists, chiropractors, aestheticians, and an herbal medicinary along with the mineral baths brings Clifton Springs advantages not found in many places.

“The naturopathic doctor works with primary care physicians so nothing is done in isolation,” Galati said. “The Springs offers a medical spa people can use and have the option of conventional and integrative medicine.”

Clifton Springs even tried to usher in a new era of care in New York state. The state requires all providers to be nonprofit and doesn’t recognize the provision of proprietary long term acute care hospitals (LTACH). Clifton Springs looked to create a hospital within a hospital because major tertiary centers in Rochester are overburdened with long-term acute patients. This creates a high occupancy rate and a lack of beds. The hospital applied for permission to build a 14- to 20-person bed unit, knowing it had all the right disciplines in place along with the Springs. Although Galati believes patients would have benefited from the central location of the hospital and its vast array of necessary services to operate a LTACH, the state balked for now.
“The state felt they had no criteria to measure or license beds for this, so they thought it was premature,” said Galati. “But we will revisit it in the future and maybe even introduce ourselves as a pilot program for LTACH when the state is ready.”

With the uncertainty surrounding the direction of the American healthcare industry, Clifton Springs has tried to develop lean operating principles. The hospital also created tuition assistance programs and relationships with area medical and nursing schools to help keep up with staffing demands. It’s possible the hospital may look to affiliate with a larger health system in the future, but Galati knows it is the continued commitment to Dr. Foster’s original vision that will keep Clifton Springs viable.

“You will see more and more hospitals combine and share resources,” Galati said. “So we could conceivably enter a situation where we align with another system. But with every decision we make, we consider whether or not it will bring a positive contribution to the community.” 
 
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