ON A PERFECT DAY for a picnic, a couple of hundred hospital employees, who could leave their posts, gathered at noon in the parking lot of Columbia Memorial at the hospital’s invitation. Some had heard rumors that the independent, locally controlled, non-sectarian, non-profit hospital was about to be swallowed up by some bigger competitor, a national chain or maybe space aliens.
The rumors had it all wrong, said Jane Ehrlich, who has served as the CEO and president of the hospital for 18 years. Far from selling out, Columbia Memorial Hospital (CMH) expects to grow bigger and expand its services to meet consumer demand. Coming from her, it’s not an idle promise. People who’ve watched the hospital over the last couple of decades acknowledge that she’s led what amounts to an astonishing turnaround in the quality and quantity of local healthcare services.
The party tents, fresh health foods and hospital brass were all part of a coordinated program to announce that Ms. Ehrlich is leaving her post at the end of the year and her replacement is her deputy, hospital Chief Operating Officer Jay Cahalan. The employees present at the noontime announcement applauded word of Mr. Cahalan’s promotion, which will make him head of the largest private enterprise in the county. Some were undoubtedly relieved not only by the continuity his appointment represents but also at the definitive word that CMH is not for sale.
This apparently smooth and credible transition won’t reduce the pressures on the hospital and its various satellite healthcare ventures. But Ms. Ehrlich deserves the credit for reinventing CMH as an ambitious provider of services, creating in the process a virtual monopoly locally on traditional medical care.
One hospital executive Tuesday rejected the notion of CMH as a monopoly, noting that patients in Columbia and Greene counties don’t have to go to Columbia Memorial for medical care. They can choose instead from hospitals in Albany, Kingston, Poughkeepsie, Pittsfield, or, for non-urgent matters, New York City or Boston. Some do.
But medical consumers often look for providers close to home because they’re more convenient or less expensive or because the wait times to see a local practitioner may mean you won’t die before your next appointment. In any case, when a hospital, by its own estimate, employs 90% of all the practicing physicians in the counties it serves, as CMH does, that’s a form of monopoly. It’s also a smart strategic move that forces competitors to think twice before trying to horn in on this market. But will it improve the care we get?
In theory it can, if the hospital finds ways to advance patient safety and “outcomes”–the medical industry term for measuring whether patients leave the hospital healthier than when they arrived. Columbia Memorial has taken a lead in the region on patient safety. The hospital has also invested heavily in new equipment and in recruiting doctors with impressive credentials as specialists. It has also earned certification as a stroke care center, a good thing considering that the population of Columbia County is older than most other counties in the state.
This will all be part of Ms. Ehrlich’s legacy when she retires at the end of the year, leaving Mr. Cahalan with the task of building on the progress already made. He also faces another, even more daunting job that could define the future of the hospital: He has to figure out why CMH doesn’t get the respect it will need to thrive.
The 2011 Hospital Report Card produced by the independent, non-profit Niagara Health Quality Coalition, ranked hospitals around the state. The results are available at myHealthFinder.com. To the layperson, it looks like Columbia Memorial earns good to average marks on many medical procedures. Then there are “patient survey results,” and while patients rank the hospital at the national average for specifics like pain management, communication with doctors and nurses and “cleanliness,” when patients are asked to give this hospital an overall rating, they hammer the place with a mark below the national average.
All the great work that Ms. Ehrlich, hospital employees and the board have accomplished during her 18 years here still have not dispelled outdated attitudes about the hospital’s inadequacies. She has laid the groundwork for a change in perception as well as in performance, but until the hospital overcomes a mindset that imagines an old hospital where a new healthcare organization exists, her work isn’t finished. That’s the real challenge for Mr. Cahalan.
Related Posts
Kinderhook will elect one new town judge
ELECTION 2023
By EMILIA TEASDALE
KINDERHOOK—Two town justice candidates are on the ballot for one open justice position this November. Ken Golden is running on the Democratic ballot line and David W. Kolb is running on the Republican line.
There are two town justices. Current Town Justice David Dellehunt is not running for reelection this year. The other town justice, Lisa Mills, was reelected in 2021. The town justice term is 4 years.
The two candidates were sent questionnaires to fill out for the profiles:
Ken Golden
Mr. Golden, a registered Democrat, was a Columbia County Assistant District Attorney and Third Department Judicial Delegate to the state Supreme Court. He was also a senior attorney with the state Department of Labor and senior attorney with the NY Department of State. In 2015 he ran for county District Attorney.
Mr. Golden has a B.A. from Union College; an M.A. from the College of St. Rose; and J.D. (juris doctor) from Albany Law School.
He is a member of the ABA (American Bar Association) and on the committees for Health and Criminal Law. He is a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs accredited attorney.
According to his questionnaire, he said he has been involved with military pro bono projects; and worked with ABA Veterans’ Claims Assistance Network. He was selected to be part of the ABA Clemency Project from 2014 to 2016, to review the sentences of inmates serving long federal terms to determine if they met certain conditions for a revised or reduced period of incarceration.
The Kinderhook Democrats website (www.khookdems.org/elections) says Mr. Golden continues to serve as an accredited counsel with the Veterans’ Administration and is currently an adjunct instructor in Healthcare Law and Ethics at Maria College in Albany.
His candidate statement said, “Having lived in our town for almost 30 years, I have witnessed the growth and changes that have shaped our community. Throughout my professional career as an attorney, I have developed a thorough understanding of the legal system and have been actively engaged in litigation, trials and administrative hearings for more than three decades. Those years of experience have equipped me with a deep appreciation for fairness, integrity, and the importance of upholding the rule of law.
“I look forward to this opportunity to contribute to the well-being of our town by serving as its Town Justice. I am dedicated to fostering an environment where justice prevails, and all residents are treated equitably. Together, we can continue to make our town a place we are all proud to call home.”
David W. Kolb
Mr. Kolb, a registered Republican, worked for the New York State Police, stationed as a Trooper in Troop K (1993-1998, 2000) and the Executive Services Detail (1998-2000). He was promoted to Sergeant in 2001 and he was stationed in Troop F and Troop K. From 2005-2014, he was the Troop G Emergency Management Sergeant. He deployed to Louisiana in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina and to Long Island in 2012 after Hurricane Sandy.
In 2014, he was promoted to Lieutenant and was assigned to Troop F, Internal Affairs, and Troop K, to include the Assistant Zone Commander in Livingston. In 2018, he was promoted to Captain and held assignments as Troop K Executive Officer and Zone Commander. In April 2020, he was temporarily assigned to New York City to run one of the NYS Covid test sites. In September 2021, he was promoted to Major and assigned the NYSP Director of Aviation where he remained until his retirement in May 2023. He is an Adjunct Professor at Empire State University and American Public University.
Mr. Kolb is a 1984 graduate of Ichabod Crane High School, has an associate degree in Human Resources from the Community College of the Air Force; a bachelor’s in Community and Human Services from SUNY-Empire State University, and a master’s degree in Disaster and Emergency Management from American Public University.
Mr. Kolb was in the U.S. Air Force from 1984 to 1988, serving on active duty as an Aircrew Life Support Specialist with the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Offutt Air Force Base, NE, where he worked on aircrew survival equipment and taught aircrew survival training. From 1988 to 2009 he was in the New York Air National Guard, serving with the 109th Airlift Wing at Stratton Air National Guard Base, in Scotia, as an Aircrew Life Support Technician, Human Resources Advisor, and a First Sergeant. He was reactivated back to active duty twice during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, and deployed overseas to several locations during his military career.
Mr. Kolb was a volunteer firefighter and Assistant Fire Chief with the Niverville Fire Department, and former public safety diver with the Greenport Rescue Squad Dive Team. He volunteered as a coach and president of the Northern Columbia Little League, and a coach and league coordinator for the St. John’s CYO Basketball program. Currently he is a board member and volunteer with the Columbia Friends of the Electric Trail, and a member of the Kinderhook Elks Lodge 2530.
He said in his candidate statement, “When I was in the military one of my commanders told me to remember that the reason a person is successful in life is due to the people around him. I was lucky to have excellent mentors during my amazing military and New York State Police careers. Both careers gave me a front row seat to humanity, both the good and the bad, and provided me with a strong sense of fairness and perspective. I truly believe the greatest gift a person can give to another is their time. I have dedicated my life to public service through the military, law enforcement, and volunteer community organizations and consider it an honor to help others. It is an honor and privilege for me to run for Kinderhook town justice and I look forward to continuing my lifetime of public service to the residents of Kinderhook in this capacity. Thank you!”
More information is on his Facebook page at David Kolb for Kinderhook Town Justice
