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Lutheran Announces Collaboration With Buffalo Providers

Moving forward Lutheran Jamestown will have the benefit of a new cooperation agreement with Buffalo-based providers Niagara Lutheran Health System (parent of The GreenFields Continuing Care Community) and Schofield Care.

The three not-for-profit senior care providers announced Tuesday that 18 months of discussion and work has resulted in the formation of Lineage Group.

The umbrella organization is expected to allow for improved joint purchasing, maximized Medicare reimbursement and a reduction of overhead costs.

“This innovative nonprofit affiliation model will ensure patient-focused care remains at the core of our collective mission, provided by individuals who live in, and are invested in, the local community,” said Christopher Koenig, President & CEO, Niagara Lutheran Health System, speaking on behalf of the three organizations.

A significant number of not-for-profit care facilities in New York state and across the country have either been purchased by for-profit providers or forced to close in recent years. This partnership was created as a way to bolster all three providers against any such pressure in the future.

“This is a new third-party entity that will be used only in ways that will enhance what we currently do from an operational standpoint,” said Tom Holt, Lutheran president and chief executive officer. “This doesn’t have any impact for us locally beyond hopefully making us more competitive and financially viable as we go into the future. This doesn’t involve any realignment of staff or anything like that.”

Holt stressed that the creation of Lineage Group will not result in changes to the structure and care provided at Lutheran.

“We’ll only use Lineage care when it creates an opportunity to enhance services and improve outcomes for us,” he said.

The collaboration work predates healthcare impacts caused by COVID-19, but progress on the agreement was slowed by the pandemic.

“With everything that has taken place since March of (2020) it has been hard to move things forward because of what we’ve all been dealing with,” Holt said.

A new board of directors will be created for Lineage, but that entity will only relate to operations of the parent organization and will consist of board members from the three existing entities.

Collaboration on staff and recruitment will also be available. Jacquelyn Bixler joined Lineage Group in November as chief human resources officer.

“In recent years there has been a major shift away from nonprofits in the senior care world as they have faced financial and operational challenges, which in many cases leads to them being ‘bought out’ or sold to for-profit operators from outside the area or sometimes out of the state entirely,” said Edwin Rodriguez Jr., director of public relations and marketing for Lutheran. “This can lead to ineffective outcomes and a poor quality of life for residents in need, as profits take priority over care and humanity. Our three organizations feel strongly that nonprofits play a critical role in local health care delivery. We decided well over a year ago to begin these discussions because we are three strong, independent providers on our own, but we could see that the pressures we’ll face will only grow over time. For us, one way to address this shift is to combine our efforts where it makes sense, while maintaining our independence and local decision making over all that we do.”

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