Rural health care: Westfield Hospital leaders discuss challenges, success

On Tuesday, hospital officials invited a number of area leaders, including state Sen. George Borrello, Assemblyman Andy Goodell and County Executive PJ Wendel, to tour the hospital and talk about some of its successes, as well as challenges it continues to face.

Hospital Board Chairperson Helen Baran thanked the officials present for their assistance. “Westfield Hospital has a long reputation as a rural hospital and that’s what we are. We service 13 communities,” she said. They include: Westfield, Ripley, Brocton, Sherman, Clymer, Bemus Point, Mayville, Chautauqua, Stockton, Portland, Dewittville, Hartfield, and Ashville.

According to Baran, part of the reason Westfield has been able to succeed is due to its partnership with a larger entity. “Rural hospitals in New York state and now across the country are very threatened. If they are not connected to a higher level of care they are more threatened. We are pleased that we are connected with Allegheny Health Network, and like that with Highmark. We are a survivor and an example in the state of New York. We fought many battles, but we won,” she said.

According to Rosney Buchanan, hospital administrator, Westfield has around 9,000 emergency room visits and 40,000 patient visits annually.

Helen Baran, board chairperson of Westfield Memorial Hospital, talks as state Sen. George Borrello, left, and Assemblyman Andy Goodell listen,

Chris Clark, chief executive officer of Westfield, St. Vincent and Grove City hospitals, said Allegheny Health Network has 14 hospitals. “We actually have more activity here (in Westfield) than we do at a couple of our other hospitals in our network,” he said.

Goodell asked hospital leaders what are some of the challenges they face today.

Clark noted that staffing is an issue, including physician recruitment. He said it is similar to other health care facilities across the nation.

Buchanan noted that they were just denied a $3.5 million grant to remodel a section of the hospital. They have four licensed in-patient beds. They want to expand that up to eight beds, but are waiting for the state to issue a Certificate Of Need. They actually already have the rooms available. They have sat vacant since 2006, when the statewide Berger Commission closed and downsized a number of hospitals across New York.

Buchanan said the rooms are just used for storage now, but he was hoping to get the grant funds for remodeling should they be permitted to be used again.

Pictured is Westfield Memorial Hospital.

Borrello noted that in Dunkirk, their emergency room is often used for non-emergency purposes and asked if Westifeld has the same problem.

Baran said when a community has a high poverty rate, it’s difficult for physicians to establish practices in those communities. She said Dunkirk faces some of those challenges, so there’s a physician shortage there. In Westfield, they do have some challenges of people using their emergency room as if it was a physicians office, but not to the same level as Dunkirk does.

Other topics hospital officials discussed included the need for educating people for healthy living, obesity and mental health.

There was also a long discussion regarding drug addictions and overdose deaths. According to Goodell, four times as many people die from drug overdoses than they do from gun violence.

Wendel noted that Narcan use has increased substantially for emergency responders. He said departments used to use Narcan once or twice a summer. Now it’s used all the time. “One afternoon Dunkirk had four (overdose death calls) from noon to 4 o’clock,” he said.

Buchanan thanked everyone for their visit.

“Rural hospitals are a critical resource for communities throughout the country, yet, according to the American Hospital Association, 59% of the hospitals that closed between 2015 and 2019 were rural,” he said. “That’s why it’s important that our elected officials understand the commitment we have made to keeping AHN Westfield a strong and vibrant hospital that provides the region with an array of vital health services in the local community.”