NYU Hospitals Center has applied for a full-asset merger with Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn as it continues to hunt for more deals around the city.
The New York-based system took control of Lutheran on April 1 and has committed $190 million in grants and loans for investments in new clinical programs, equipment and health information technology. The certificate of need filed July 2 would merge the two providers and leave NYU as the sole surviving entity.
In an earnings report for the nine-month period ended May 31, NYU reiterated that it is also looking to add other acute-care hospitals to the group. It is searching in areas outside Manhattan that still have a sufficient number of NYU-affiliated physicians to support an alliance.
No letters of intent have been signed yet, the report said.
The update on its expansion plans comes as NYU continues to improve its financial picture in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in October 2012, which shuttered its emergency department for 18 months.
NYU reported an operating surplus of $156.4 million on $1.9 billion in revenue for the nine-month period, compared with an operating surplus of $124.3 million on nearly $1.7 billion in revenue during the same period last year. Its operating margin improved to 8.2% from 7.5%.
With the re-opening of its ED, emergency and urgent-care visits grew 56.3% year over year and inpatient volume increased 9.2%. Outpatient visits increased 4.2%.
NYU said it is continuing to see growth in its ambulatory surgery, cardiac catheterization, cardiac electrophysiology, cancer care and musculoskeletal service lines.
Although most of the news was good, NYU Hospitals also disclosed that a June inspection by the state Department of Health found deficiencies that need to be remedied. The issues were found during a Title 18 allegation survey, the sparse disclosure said, adding that the system submitted a plan of correction June 30.
Title 18 of New York Codes, Rules and Regulations deals with social services.
“It is not possible to predict the survey findings or what additional measures CMS or NYS DOH may require in order to remedy the deficiencies,” NYU Hospitals said in its quarterly report.
