§ 3626 — Legislative findings and declarations

§ 3626. Legislative findings and declarations. The legislature hereby\nfinds and declares as follows:\n 1. Currently, the Erie County Medical Center is a public hospital\nowned and operated by the county of Erie.\n 2. The Erie County Medical Center healthcare network includes a\ngeneral hospital, the Erie County Home, and several clinics in Erie\ncounty.\n 3. The Erie County Medical Center is a tertiary care facility for Erie\ncounty and the seven other counties in western New York and an\naffiliated hospital of the health science center at Buffalo of the state\nuniversity of New York. As such, the Erie County Medical Center serves\nas an integral part of the education and research mission of the state\nuniversity and fulfills an important public purpose. The Erie County\nMedical Center provides the health science center at Buffalo with the\nclinical settings essential to the fulfillment of its public mission to\neducate and train physicians, nurses, and other health care\nprofessionals, conducts critical research, and delivers health care\nservices to the residents of the western New York region.\n 4. The Erie County Medical Center is the only major public hospital in\nwestern New York and provides certain sophisticated and specialized\npatient care services not available in other area hospitals. As the\nregional level I trauma center for the eight counties of western New\nYork, the Erie County Medical Center has earned a reputation for high\nquality care. The comprehensive program also features the region's only\nburn treatment center, a designated spinal cord injury unit, and a head\ntrauma unit. Trauma services are supported by a broad scope of\nrehabilitation, home care, and outpatient services. The Erie County\nMedical Center also is the designated AIDS treatment center for the\neight counties of western New York, the central point of admission into\nthe local mental health community, and the largest acute care mental\nhealth hospital program in western New York. The Erie County Medical\nCenter is the leading provider of inpatient and outpatient medical\nrehabilitation services in western New York, a major center for\nundergraduate and graduate medical education, and a productive source of\nclinical and basic science research in rehabilitation medicine. The Erie\nCounty Medical Center also is a recognized leader in providing quality\nmedical care to the elderly. The Erie County Medical Center healthcare\nnetwork's geriatric services program includes the area's only acute\ninpatient geriatric unit and nearly eight hundred long term care beds at\nboth the Erie county home in Alden and a skilled nursing unit at the\nErie County Medical Center.\n 5. The needs of the residents of the state of New York and of the\ncounty of Erie can best be served by the operation of the Erie County\nMedical Center healthcare network through a public benefit corporation\nhaving the legal, financial, and managerial flexibility to take full\nadvantage of opportunities and challenges presented by the evolving\nhealth care environment.\n 6. In order to accomplish the purposes recited in this section of\nproviding health care services and health facilities for the benefit of\nthe residents of the state of New York and the county of Erie, including\npersons in need of health care services without the ability to pay, as\nrequired by law, a public benefit corporation to be known as the Erie\nCounty Medical Center Corporation shall be created to provide such\nservices and facilities and to otherwise carry out such purposes. The\ncreation and operation of the Erie County Medical Center Corporation, as\nprovided in this title, is in all respects for the benefit of the people\nof the state of New York and of the county of Erie and is a state,\ncounty, and public purpose. The exercise by such corporation of the\nfunctions, powers, and duties provided in this title constitutes the\nperformance of an essential public and governmental function.\n 7. In authorizing the Erie County Medical Center healthcare network to\nbe operated through a public benefit corporation, it is intended that\nthe hospital continue as a general, municipal hospital available to the\nresidents of the city of Buffalo, county of Erie, and western New York\nstate generally, that the health care services provided by the Erie\nCounty Medical Center healthcare network's hospital, clinics, long term\ncare facilities, and ancillary facilities by dedicated public employees\nwho treat tens of thousands of New York residents annually will\ncontinue, and that the network's role as a leading provider of services\nto medicaid patients will also continue.\n