Every spring Peconic Bay Medical Center reviews and updates its Community Service Plan, which defines the medical center's mission, its population and the programs that address the healthcare needs of its communities.

Also included is information regarding the hospital's performance in providing charity care services and improving access to healthcare to the underserved.

A full plan is submitted to the New York State Department of Health every three years and an implementation report is provided in the other two years.

MISSION
Since 1951, Peconic Bay Medical Center (PBMC) has provided excellent and compassionate healthcare to the communities on Long Island’s East End. The Medical Center’s reputation in the community is based on the quality of its healthcare services and its experienced clinical staff. PBMC is fully accredited by the Joint Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and licensed by the New York State Department of Health.

Peconic Bay Medical Center provides acute and critical inpatient services, outpatient services including emergency medicine, dialysis, physical therapy, radiology, respiratory therapy and laboratory services. PBMC also operates a sixty (60) bed skilled nursing and  rehabilitation facility that provides both short term and subacute care and long-term skilled nursing care. The Medical Center also operates a certified home care agency, Peconic Bay Home Health Services.

As part of the Medical Center’s overall mission, PBMC continually seeks to promote ongoing communication and educational programs. PBMC realizes that as healthcare needs of our community are constantly changing, so does the need for our policies and delivery of services. As the leading provider of healthcare to the communities we serve,PBMC is committed to improving the health of our community by providing quality, comprehensive and compassionate care to all those we serve.

The stated mission of the Medical Center is as follows: “Peconic Bay Medical Center is committed to improving the health of our communities by providing quality,comprehensive and compassionate care” This Mission is embodied in the Medical Center’s Vision “To be the healthcare provider of choice for our communities.”

The Medical Center’s Mission has not changed since the submission of its last Community Service Plan. However, the Medical Center is now a member of the East End Health Alliance. The East End Health Alliance, the Article 28 parent of Eastern Long Island Hospital, Peconic Bay Medical Center and Southampton Hospital, was created in response to the recommendations of the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century.

Consistent with the Mission of Peconic Bay Medical Center, the goals of the Alliance are as follows:

• To collaboratively develop high quality, comprehensive and accessible health care services to meet the needs of the community served;
• To rationalize health care services across the system; and
• To develop & realize management efficiencies

The other two Hospitals of the East End Health Alliance, Eastern Long Island Hospital and Southampton Hospital, have subsequently developed affiliation agreements with Stony Brook University Medical Center and the three hospitals continue to explore opportunities to collaboratively develop clinical and educational programs that will improve the public health of the communities we serve.

SERVICE AREA
Peconic Bay Medical Center’s service area extends from Hampton Bays to Mastic Beach on the South Fork, from Manorville through Riverhead in the middle section of the East End and from Shoreham and Wading River through Greenport of the North Fork.

The service are has more than 191,000 residents and the population is expected to grow by five (5) percent from 2008 to 2013. As the population of this region continues to grow and is driving increased demand for health care services, the Medical Center has responded by making capital investments in emergency room and surgical services, and the recruitment of physicians to be able to meet these needs.

The service area has a significantly higher percentage of elderly than Suffolk County, Nassau County and New York State. Approximately one in five residents of the Medical Center’s service area are over the age of fifty-five (55), the population that drives higher demand for health care services. Moreover, this age cohort is expected to increase as a percentage of the total population over the next five years.

The hospital has developed programs, including a new program in physical medicine and rehabilitation services, enhanced orthopedics and neurosurgical services, enhanced home health care and skilled nursing services that are specifically geared towards meeting the unique health care needs of this population.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Peconic Bay Medical Center has an extensive program of community outreach that is complemented by the efforts of the East End Health Alliance, the Medical Center’s active parent. Input on the Community Service Plan is received from both internal and external sources. Needs are assessed on an annual basis by the Board of Trustees, Medical Center management and staff, volunteers, and leaders of local not-for-profit organizations and governmental agencies.

Community programs are publicized in a variety of ways: direct mail, flyers, calendar listings, e-mail communications, telephone information lines, newsprint advertising, and local cable television. Community members are encouraged to offer input on Peconic Bay Medical Center’s community programs by e-mail and via surveys collected at public events.

The Medical Center’s President and Chief Executive Officer and other senior staff regularly meet with community groups from the East End region of Long Island to keep area residents informed about Medical Center programs and to receive feedback and field questions from the community.

Services for short-term and long-term care for chronic and acute illness are continually evaluated through statistical data that include quality indicators and patient outcomes.

This data is compared nationally with other health facilities and informs the hospital’s strategic plan and community service plan. The Medical Center’s Strategic Planning Committee includes community members, Medical Center staff and Medical Center and Foundation Board Members who work collaboratively to assess community needs and develop strategies to meet these needs. The External Affairs Committee was established to enhance communication between the Medical Center and the communities it serves.
Members of the Committee include a cross-section of physicians, nurses, Medical Center management, Medical Center employees and community volunteers.

The Medical Center has a longstanding commitment and experience in outreach having administered the Cancer Services Program of Eastern Suffolk County for the past five years. This program provides no-cost breast cancer screening and diagnostic services to women who are uninsured, as well as screening for prostate,colorectal and gynecologic oncology for both men and women. It also provides patient navigation and coordination of services for women diagnosed with breast and cervical cancer through the screening program. The Medical Center provides information and support services in Spanish to accommodate those women who are not proficient in English. The partnership model was conceived and implemented based on the principle that community members are the best people to identify the needs of their community and to carry out a play of action that addresses those needs.

Responding to the needs of the community for obstetrical care, including those who are under or uninsured, Peconic Bay Medical Center provides obstetrical and gynecological services to the Suffolk County Health Center. In addition, a separate group of primary care physicians provide care to any Riverhead Health Center patient who needs to be admitted to the Medical Center. In conjunction with Suffolk County, the Medical Center operates a secured forensic unit for inmates of the Suffolk County Jail who require hospitalization.

The Medical Center provides free flu shots to residents of the Community who are at high risk for influenza. The Medical Center also has responded to Community needs by sponsoring a number of Community Health Fairs offering free blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose screenings as well as providing important health and wellness information. These Health Fairs also create the opportunity for Medical Center staff to obtain important community feedback, information that is shared with Medical Center leadership and considered in future community outreach.

Supporting this educational outreach and opportunity for community input, the MedicalCenter has a speakers bureau that provides professional input related to health and wellness topics, health heart diet, treating ovarian cancer, etc.

Based on community input, the Medical Center has also launched Project Care in conjunction with Stony Brook University’s School of Health Management and Technology. This program provides in-home monitoring for high-risk patients that would otherwise have difficulty accessing care. The Medical Center has also responded to community input from the regions ambulance corps and with the support of Stony Brook provides three first responder vehicles that augment the local EMS during peak hours.

PBMC was successful in obtaining funding for a patient transportation van that provides transport for our skilled nursing facility for medical services, as well as for patients from other community nursing homes that may need radiology or laboratory testing.

ASSESSMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH PRIORITIES
Peconic Bay Medical Center was an active participant in the collaborative planning process with the Suffolk County Department of Health and community partners to assess community health needs, identify health priorities and develop public health programs to meet the identified needs. This collaborative group met from the fall of 2008 through August of 2009, and selected tobacco use and unintentional injury as the two health priorities identified in the New York State Prevention Agenda toward the Healthiest State.

Smoking cessation was selected because the use of tobacco is the number one underlying risk factor for multiple diseases. Moreover, Nassau and Suffolk Counties suffer from some of the highest mortality rates from heart disease in New York State.

Unintentional injuries was selected as a priority given the fact that Suffolk County has a relatively high mortality rate for unintentional injuries when compared to New York State and nationally. The group also agreed that given the shortage of resources available to advance public health agendas, it was important to select priorities that could build on programs that are already in place.

Both smoking cessation and programs to reduce unintentional injuries accomplish this goal.

A full plan is submitted to the New York State Department of Health every three years and an implementation report is provided in the other two years.

A copy of the plan is available to the public upon request. If you would like a copy of the report, please contact the Office of External Affairs.

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