CRMC OB/Gyn Gets a Boost

By Jeanne Sager
HARRIS — January 8, 2007 — The final piece of the Crystal Run Healthcare puzzle fell back into place at Catskill Regional Medical Center this week.
“We’re back, and we’re committed,” said Dr. Hal Teitelbaum, CEO of the private multi-physician practice.
The addition this week of OB/GYNs Dr. Timothy Rydell and Dr. Ilan Zedek brings to 70 the number of Crystal Run physicians with privileges to provide treatment at the hospital in Harris.
Before Crystal Run pulled its doctors in May 2006, 62 of its physicians were working at the hospital in a variety of medical specialties.
Obstetrics and gynecology is the last of the specialties represented in 2006 to return, Teitelbaum said.
But Crystal Run isn’t done.
With at least one orthopedic surgeon credentialed to work at the hospital and several more anticipated, the private practice will be adding orthopedic and general surgery to its offerings in Harris.
Also coming within the next six months to a year are urology services from Crystal Run, Teitelbaum said.
OB/GYN will be expanded as soon as this summer when an already hired doctor comes on board.
Another hire will bring to four the number of Crystal Run OB/GYNs dedicated entirely to practicing medicine in Sullivan County, delivering babies and performing gynecological surgeries at the hospital.
Also in the new agreement is the privileges afforded the entire range of Crystal Run Healthcare OB/GYNs to practice at CRMC if needed.
Although they won’t be on call in Harris, nor will they likely spend much time there, the remainder of the Crystal Run gynecology department will be able to cover vacations and provide emergency services if necessary in Sullivan County.
In the last 12 months that Crystal Run spent at Harris before its pullout, at least 200 babies were delivered by its physicians.
That represented a substantial portion of hospital revenues – part of the reasoning behind the new birthing and maternity ward that has been a quiet place since Crystal Run doctors left and took their patients with them down to Orange Regional Medical Center in Middletown.
The hospital has been paying debt service on the several million dollar renovation with a reduced patient load, but Teitelbaum said Rydell and Zedek already have procedures scheduled on the ward for the coming weeks.
With that will come revenue for the hospital and Crystal Run.
Teitelbaum hopes it will also bring a renewed faith in the hospital, reducing the out-migration of Sullivan County residents to hospitals beyond the county’s borders.
Teitelbaum pulled his doctors in 2006 because of concerns with the quality of care being provided at CRMC.
Those concerns have been quelled, he said, and the decision to restore services in full should reflect that.
A big part of the renewed relationship was the affiliation in mid-2007 with Orange Regional Medical Center, Teitelbaum said.
Also key was the overhaul of the administration and the board at Catskill Regional.
“I think the big difference between where we were before and where we are now is we have a totally cooperative relationship with the administration,” Teitelbaum noted. “I think the board understands what they need to do and what we need to do.
“Anyone who says they can’t do better than they did in the past – including us – is destined to failure,” he continued.
“There’s a real opportunity here,” Teitelbaum said. “In general, being treated close to home is in the best interest of Sullivan County residents.”