Hamilton-Bassett-Crouse
Health Network

Community Memorial Hospital continues to develop the Hamilton-Bassett-Crouse Health Network through grant funding under the New York State Department of Health's Rural Health Network. Several major accomplishments over the past few years are discussed below.

Development of video-teleconferencing facilities: Providing continuing education to hospital and medical staff can be difficult, time-consuming and costly. In order to offer local, cost-effective educational programs, a video-teleconferencing system was designed and installed in the atrium conference room in Community Memorial's administration building. The medical staff can now take part - interactively - with Bassett's Medical Grand Rounds every week. The facility also meets educational and programming needs of other departments and staff.

Graduate medical education affiliations and student placements: Affiliation agreements and medical school placements have been achieved with Crouse, Bassett and SUNY Health Science Center. The Science Center's RMED program allows a medical student to complete a nine-month rotation with family practice physicians. Community Memorial also has an affiliation with the Crouse Family Practice Residency training program, SUNY Health Science Center at Binghamton clinical obstetrics and gynecology program, and the Columbia University and Dartmouth College externship programs. These affiliations provide Community Memorial with increased exposure for future physician recruitment.

Design and implementation of Community Wellness Program: The Community Wellness Program began operation just two years ago and has experienced tremendous support from the area. The center offers programs to manage the health and education issues of pregnant women, and also includes women's health and community-wide issues. The program is designed to encompass the physical, nutritional and emotional needs of participants, emphasizing the involvement of primary care physicians.