By PAUL KIRBY
Freeman staff
pkirby@freemanonline.com; twitter.com/PaulatFreeman

KINGSTON, N.Y.  — Officials from HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley, the operators of Kingston and Benedictine hospitals, on Wednesday are expected to update plans to close Kingston Hospital and provide services at Benedictine.

The company said a public forum will be held in the auditorium at the 75 Mary’s Avenue campus of Benedictine Hospital at 6 p.m.

David Lundquist, president and chief executive officer of HealthAlliance, said Monday that Wednesday’s forum kicks off what will be regular monthly sessions to brief the public on the progress of the company’s plan. Two other forums were held in July.

Lundquist said the meetings will be held each month for the next 17 months as it seeks to close Kingston Hospital and move services to Benedictine. A final plan  is expected to be developed within the next few weeks, Lundquist said.

The Freeman will cover Wednesday’s forum live at http://live.dailyfreeman.com.

“We have done this to address the concerns of the community and to be sure that we keep them as up to date as possible,” Lundquist said.

Lundquist added that company officials continue to have ongoing dialogue with the New York state Health Department which will have final say on any plan that is ultimately compiled.

State Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, D-Kingston, has put together the forums. Cahill helped put together an alliance of the hospitals when the state mandated that they do so. The two hospitals officially allied in 2008.

Since then, HealthAlliance has said it’s experienced steep losses on the operations of the facilities.

HealthAlliance has cited a number of reasons for the losses including the slumping economy, less in reimbursements, physicians setting up practices outside the hospital, and lack of Ulster County being included in a higher-paying, federal reimbursement zone. Continued...

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In May, the company announced it was considering closing one of the two hospitals. In July, the company said that it would seek to close Kingston Hospital and keep Benedictine open under a different name within an 18-month period.

The company has also said that Benedictine Hospital will not be operated as a religious institution under the developing plan.

At public forums in the past, speakers were allowed to air their opinions, many giving their preferences on which hospital should stay open.

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