Stony Brook and Southampton hospitals to join forces
Stony Brook University Hospital on March 26, 2014. Credit: Newsday / John Paraskevas
Stony Brook University Hospital and Southampton Hospital are close to an agreement that would join the East End hospital with Stony Brook and build a new medical facility on the university's Southampton campus.
The two hospitals signed a letter of intent in October 2012 stipulating that Southampton would operate under Stony Brook's license.
Although he said there are "more details" to be worked out, Stony Brook's chief executive, Dr. Reuven Pasternak, said he hoped the agreement could be presented to the SUNY board of trustees in the next few months for ratification. The next trustees meeting is scheduled for May 6 and 7 at Stony Brook.
"We're looking for that to happen this spring," he said in an interview this week.
Pasternak said it has taken a year and a half to work out an agreement because of its complexity.
"It's taken awhile to do this," he said. "In the meantime we've developed a comfortable working relationship."
Robert Chaloner, Southampton's chief executive, said in a statement Wednesday that the two hospitals "have made significant progress."
"We are actively working to complete all the various legal and regulatory steps that will be required for final approval by our respective boards and the regulatory authorities," he said.
The 125-bed hospital has shared some clinical services with Stony Brook since 2008. Many details about the new relationship remained unclear, including whether any money will change hands, whether Southampton will retain its board of directors, and where on the 85-acre campus a hospital might be built. The campus is about four miles from Southampton Hospital.
Stony Brook bought the Southampton campus from Long Island University in 2006 for $35 million. But in April 2010, facing state budget cuts, Stony Brook announced it would close much of the campus.
