Columbia Memorial Hospital outlines three-part plan to stabilize services; officials deny closure rumors
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Summary
Columbia Memorial Hospital leaders told Greene County officials that CMH is not closing and laid out a three-part plan — expand geriatric psychiatric capacity, open an outpatient surgery center at Green Medical Arts, and pursue critical-access designation — aimed at keeping local care available amid financial pressure.
Columbia Memorial Hospital officials told Greene County legislators the hospital is not closing and detailed a three-part strategy they say is necessary to keep services in the area.
"There was a rally in Hudson saying that CMH is closing'That is wrong. Can't be further than the truth," Dr. Michael Weisberg, director of emergency and rapid care at Columbia Memorial, said in a presentation to the public policy committee. Weisberg, who said he has worked in the system since 2007, described three initiatives intended to stabilize the hospital's finances and maintain access to local care.
The first step is expanding inpatient capacity for older patients with both medical and psychiatric needs; Weisberg said the hospital has secured a state grant and plans a dedicated geriatric psychiatric floor of roughly 12 to 14 beds. The second is opening an outpatient surgery center at Green Medical Arts for elective procedures such as arthroplasty and laparoscopic gynecological operations; construction began with a target opening in 2027. The third is "rightsizing" inpatient services, including reducing intensive-care capacity to reflect current use and applying for critical-access hospital status to improve reimbursement rates.
The proposal, Weisberg said, is driven by long-term changes in demand and reimbursement: CMH is licensed for 192 beds but typically runs far fewer admitted patients; the hospital receives a high share of government payers (Medicare and Medicaid), which he said reduces revenues. He told the committee the system joined Albany Med to survive financially and that Albany Med has subsidized CMH but cannot do so indefinitely.
Committee members asked how outpatient complications and transfers would be handled. Weisberg said patients would be prescreened for outpatient surgery and, if admission were required post-procedure, the hospital would use current transfer protocols — typically arranging transport to Albany Med or other higher-level centers as needed. He said the federal and state approvals (certificate-of-need and critical-access designation) could take up to two years and cautioned that the timeline is not guaranteed.
Weisberg emphasized the plan is a local decision developed with system partners: "This was our decision. We were not mandated by Albany Med to do this. They said come up with a plan, and how can we help you?"
State grant details and the certificate-of-need timeline were not specified in the presentation; Weisberg said official approvals are pending and outcomes are not assured. Committee members did not take formal action on hospital policy during the meeting; the presentation was followed by questions and requests for additional details.
The next procedural steps will be any formal applications to state and federal regulators and follow-up presentations to local officials as those applications progress.
