Table of Contents
Cover Story:
Taking Rockland’s Pulse
When it comes to healthcare, the prognosis is good for Rockland County
Feature Story:
Trends In Senior Living
From home health care to hospice care, assisted living to nursing homes, find out what's right for you
RBD Round-Up:
RBD's First Annual Small Business Awards
We’re looking for you! Find out more about our new awards program—and how to nominate a small business
DEPARTMENTS:
Economic Round-Up
• The Smart Investor
How should you manage your retirement?
Retail Round-Up
• The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Retailers expect respectable sales as shoppers head into the holidays
Business Round-Up
• Things You Should Know
The County hires a new health commissioner, Wyeth celebrates the century mark
• Marketing By Design
The fine art of advertising
• Rockland Newsmakers
Ask The Expert
• Limited Liability and Company Retirement Plans
Dedicated Section:
Rockland Business Association:
The President’s Desk
It’s Been A Very Good Year...and It Ain’t Over Yet
Marking a Milestone
The Old 76 House in Tappan becomes
the RBA’s 1,000th member.
RBA Happenings
• Committee and Council Info
• Calendar of Events
• New Members
Publishing Information
Rockland Business Digest, LLC
Co-Publishers:
Ken Mahoney & Steven Powell
For complete publishing information, please click here.
Taking Rockland's Pulse
From acute care to elder care, hospice to hospitals, Rockland County is home to
top-notch care, ground-breaking discoveries.
By Adrian Burke
The same holds true for cancer care. Traditionally, patients with a cancer diagnosis head to Sloane Kettering, to Philadelphia, Manhattan, or even Chicago for top-notch treatment centers. Today, the Nyack Hospital USB Cancer Center offers the latest treatments and because of its affiliation with NY Presbyterian, has a broad outreach to specialists in the field. What about when a stroke, or a catastrophic injury requires rehab? There’s no better option than one of the nation’s preeminent rehab centers, located, again right here in Rockland. The Helen Hayes Hospital is widely recognized as a leader in rehabilitation medicine and research—and has been for nearly 100 years. They are working on ground-breaking research on traumatic brain injuries, as well.
That milestone100th open heart surgery at Good Sam, says the hospitals executive director, points out something many have long known: that community need and pent-up demand for a world-class cardiovascular surgery program in the Lower Hudson Valley. “This strong patient volume means that the people of our region are now receiving the quality cardiac care that they deserve,” said Michael Schnieders, Executive Vice President and Administrator for Good Samaritan Hospital.
“This strong patient volume means that the people of our region are now receiving the quality cardiac care that they deserve.”
Michael Schnieders,
Exec. Vice President and Administrator
Good Samaritan Hospital
There are other developments that continue to showcase Rockland’s strength in healthcare. In September, Nyack Hospital announced the addition of digital mammography services with a donation from the Union State Bank Charitable Foundation. who accepted the donation at the ceremony and reception, “The Union State Bank Cancer Center at Nyack Hospital has been providing outstanding medical care to the residents of Rockland County, said Nyack Hospital president & CEO David Freed. “The addition of digital mammography, which is considered to be the ‘gold standard,’ will further enhance its capabilities, continuing to bring the best of cancer care close to home.”
But healthcare involves more than dealing with emergencies. Fortunately, Rockland offers many health care options. From top-notch hospital centers and rehabilitation facilities to a number of pharmaceutical companies—Wyeth, Barr, Par, and Novartis—working on discovering new drugs, to healthcare providers such as chiropractors, radiologists, dentists and other specialists, create a fabric and a continuum of care that would be envied in most communities. Weleda, a Swiss company that manufacturers natural personal care products and complementary medicines, chose Rockland for its U.S. headquarters. The mission of Weleda, which makes everything from children’s sunscreen to amara drops for digestion, is to support the natural healing abilities of the individual, thereby strengthening the health and wellbeing of our customers worldwide. They are doing it from Palisades.
With Good Sam at one end of the county and Nyack at the other—both hospitals are also Level 2 Trauma centers, by the way—there is a sort of medical mile running between them, with healthcare services and providers occupying office space on Route 59 and other roads that provide everything the county needs. Like Clarkstown Pediatrics on Smith Street, which has been serving children in the county for over 35 years; or Ramapo Radiology, which provides state of the art MRI systems.
Quality of Life Issue—And Not Just for the Sick
Although residents may overlook it as just another fact of life, the truth is businesses looking to relocate to Rockland County are just as interested in the quality of the healthcare in the county as an everyday citizen. And while that might sound odd—the fact is that a healthy medical center means that employees are willing to move here to take the jobs. Thriving hospitals and a strong medical community make a region attractive for business, industry and residents.
“The Union State Bank Cancer Center at Nyack Hospital has been providing outstanding medical care to the residents
of Rockland County.”
David Fried, President and CEO
Nyack Hospital
Healthcare is a huge economic engine for the county, too. According to the Rockland Economic Development Corporation (redc.org) Wyeth, Good Samaritan Hospital and Nyack Hospital are the number 2,3 and 4 employers in the county. Wyeth employs 3,130; Good Sam has 1,651, followed by Nyack Hospital with 1,400. Countless doctors, dentists, radiologists, pediatricians, and other medical-related companies provide thousands of additional jobs, adding in excess of $1 billion to the county’s payrolls.
Wyeth: A Longtime Presence
Wyeth has long been a presence in Pearl River. Last month, the Pearl River facility, one of the largest manufacturing and research facilities in Wyeth’s global network, marked its 100th anniversary by honoring the generations of employees at the site who have contributed to significant advances in medical science and human health.
The Pearl River campus is a recognized leader in the discovery, development and manufacture of a wide range of innovative health care products, including pharmaceuticals, vaccines, biotechnology products and non-prescription consumer products.
“The history of Pearl River closely mirrors the history of the modern pharmaceutical industry,” says Charles Portwood, President Technical Operations & Product Supply (TO&PS). “Over the years, it has been associated with many of the important medical advances and accomplishments in the healthcare field. And it continues to produce some of Wyeth’s most sophisticated products and to pioneer manufacturing innovations that are used across the Wyeth network.”
Numerous medical milestones are associated with Pearl River. The site pioneered the production of tetanus antitoxin and was a major manufacturing center for typhoid, smallpox and polio vaccines. And it was researchers at Pearl River who discovered Aureomycin chlortetracycline, one of the first broad-spectrum antibiotics. The site also manufactured the company’s first FDA-licensed product – diphtheria antitoxin.
“Pearl River continues to produce some of Wyeth’s most sophisticated products and to pioneer manufacturing innovations used across the Wyeth network.”
Charles Portwood, President TO&PS
Wyeth Pharmaceutical
Today, the Pearl River facility is responsible for producing a number of Wyeth’s leading products. Included are such products as Prevnar®, (Pneumococcal 7-valent Conjugate Vaccine [Diptheria CRM197 Protein]) and Centrum®.
Where The World’s Coming To
Back to Good Samaritan’s open-heart surgery program to illustrate a point. Although much of the patient volume thus far has been from residents of Rockland County, a significant number of cases have been from Orange and Sullivan Counties in New York, and Northern Bergen County in New Jersey. This wide geographic area further reveals the long-standing need for this program, and validates the community need for a comprehensive cardiac program in this part of New York State.
Patients come from all over to Helen Hayes Hospital in West Haverstraw, which is known for its treatment of traumatic brain injuries and those suffered by victims of strokes. Two years ago, wounded Marine Sergeant Eddie Ryan was treated here. In April 2005, he was shot in the head and jaw while on a rooftop with two fellow Marine snipers in the Iraqi city of Ramadi. He wasn’t’ expected to survive. After being treated at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and in a Veterans Affairs hospital in Virginia, Ryan continued his treatment at Helen Hayes Hospital. He spent a year there undergoing rehab. “He went from doing absolutely nothing in a coma and on tubes to speaking and recognition,” his mother, Angela told the Journal News.
It’s quality and quantity that attracts patients to Rockland—both those already living in the county and also from nearby counties. The recent news that nearby Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood, N.J. has shuts its doors, should bring even more prospective patients to Good Sam, Nyack and even Helen Hayes.
Pascack Valley Hospital files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
With a crushing debt load and few prospects to attract new patients, Pascack Valley Hospital, located in nearby Westwood, New Jersey recently closed the 280 bed not-for-profit hospital. A general medical and surgical hospital, PVH was a third option and easy to access resource of many Rockland residents. The hospital announced it has lost $50 million in the last four years; last year’s numbers were $21.9, with a projected loss of $16 million this year. The hospital had hoped a new $50 million building project that added a new four-story wing with a dedicated maternity unit and a high-risk prenatal program, might attract new patients, but they failed to materialize.
The hospital had hoped to work out a merger with Hackensack Medical Center, but when Hackensack backed out, the cards were on the table for PVH. The hospital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The move will affect more than 700 employees, many of them Rockland residents. RBD
About the USB Cancer Center at Nyack Hospital
Being treated close to home, near family and friends and your place of business, can make all the difference when you feel exhausted and want the comfort of loved ones and familiar things. The USB Cancer Center offers a range of treatment options from medical oncology, radiation oncology, to gynecologic oncology, surgical options and chemotherapy. The Center is affiliated with New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System afford Nyack’s cancer patients the benefits of receiving care within the context of an academic environment, an advantage not often associated with community hospital-based cancer programs. The result is an elevated quality of care made possible through tumor board meetings, participation in joint conferences, access to clinical research protocols, and the ability to consort with top doctors in oncology.
In 2005 the center was re-accredited by The American College of Surgeons and was awarded a three-year accreditation with commendation, the highest level of accreditation awarded. Only 56 percent of institutions nationwide receive this accreditation and only 37 percent in New York State.
Accredited and designated as a Community Comprehensive Cancer Program by the American College of Surgeons, The Union State Bank Cancer Center is also an affiliate of the Herbert I. Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center.RBD
About The Active International Cardiovascular Institute
The Active International Cardiovascular Institute is a state-of-the-art comprehensive cardiac center, and the first program of its kind in the Lower Hudson Valley. The Institute offers the most advanced cardiovascular procedures, including open-heart surgery, emergency angioplasty for acute heart attack, elective angioplasty to relieve potential blockages, and a wide range of additional cardiovascular procedures.
“The high patient volume that we have seen in just a few short months proves what we have been saying for years: that there is a critical need in our region for a program that enables the people of our community to have close, immediate access to the finest in cardiovascular care, right here at Good Samaritan Hospital,” said Schnieders.
Opened in late January of this year, the Active International Cardiovascular Institute at Good Samaritan Hospital is the culmination of a grassroots community effort to bring cardiac surgery to the region. Significantly, patients from the Lower Hudson Valley can now remain with Good Samaritan Hospital and their families for virtually all of their advanced cardiac care.
