§ 2825-D — Health care facility transformation program: statewide

§ 2825-d. Health care facility transformation program: statewide. 1. A\nstatewide health care facility transformation program is hereby\nestablished under the joint administration of the commissioner and the\npresident of the dormitory authority of the state of New York for the\npurpose of strengthening and protecting continued access to health care\nservices in communities. The program shall provide capital funding in\nsupport of projects that replace inefficient and outdated facilities as\npart of a merger, consolidation, acquisition or other significant\ncorporate restructuring activity that is part of an overall\ntransformation plan intended to create a financially sustainable system\nof care. The issuance of any bonds or notes hereunder shall be subject\nto section sixteen hundred eighty-r of the public authorities law and\nthe approval of the director of the division of the budget, and any\nprojects funded through the issuance of bonds or notes hereunder shall\nbe approved by the New York state public authorities control board, as\nrequired under section fifty-one of the public authorities law.\n 2. The commissioner and the president of the authority shall enter\ninto an agreement, subject to approval by the director of the budget,\nand subject to section sixteen hundred eighty-r of the public\nauthorities law, for the purposes of awarding, distributing, and\nadministering the funds made available pursuant to this section. Such\nfunds may be distributed by the commissioner and the president of the\nauthority for capital grants to general hospitals, residential health\ncare facilities, diagnostic and treatment centers and clinics licensed\npursuant to this chapter or the mental hygiene law, for capital\nnon-operational works or purposes that support the purposes set forth in\nthis section. A copy of such agreement, and any amendments thereto,\nshall be provided to the chair of the senate finance committee, the\nchair of the assembly ways and means committee, and the director of the\ndivision of budget no later than thirty days prior to the release of a\nrequest for applications for funding under this program. Priority shall\nbe given to projects not funded, in whole or in part, under section\ntwenty-eight hundred twenty-five or twenty-eight hundred twenty-five-c\nof this article. Projects awarded, in whole or part, under sections\ntwenty-eight hundred twenty-five-a and twenty-eight hundred\ntwenty-five-b of this article shall not be eligible for grants or awards\nmade available under this section.\n 3. Notwithstanding section one hundred sixty-three of the state\nfinance law or any inconsistent provision of law to the contrary, up to\ntwo hundred million dollars of the funds appropriated for this program\nshall be awarded without a competitive bid or request for proposal\nprocess for capital grants to health care providers (hereafter\n"applicants"). Provided however that a minimum of thirty million\ndollars of total awarded funds shall be made to community-based health\ncare providers, which, for purposes of this section shall be defined as\na diagnostic and treatment center licensed or granted an operating\ncertificate under this article; a mental health clinic licensed or\ngranted an operating certificate under article thirty-one of the mental\nhygiene law; an alcohol and substance abuse treatment clinic licensed or\ngranted an operating certificate under article thirty-two of the mental\nhygiene law; primary care providers; or a home care provider certified\nor licensed pursuant to article thirty-six of this chapter. Eligible\napplicants shall be those deemed by the commissioner to be a provider\nthat fulfills or will fulfill a health care need for acute inpatient,\noutpatient, primary, home care or residential health care services in a\ncommunity.\n 4. In determining awards for eligible applicants under this section,\nthe commissioner and the president of the authority shall consider\ncriteria including, but not limited to:\n (a) the extent to which the proposed capital project will contribute\nto the integration of health care services and long term sustainability\nof the applicant or preservation of essential health services in the\ncommunity or communities served by the applicant;\n (b) the extent to which the proposed project or purpose is aligned\nwith delivery system reform incentive payment ("DSRIP") program goals\nand objectives;\n (c) consideration of geographic distribution of funds;\n (d) the relationship between the proposed capital project and\nidentified community need;\n (e) the extent to which the applicant has access to alternative\nfinancing;\n (f) the extent that the proposed capital project furthers the\ndevelopment of primary care and other outpatient services;\n (g) the extent to which the proposed capital project benefits Medicaid\nenrollees and uninsured individuals;\n (h) the extent to which the applicant has engaged the community\naffected by the proposed capital project and the manner in which\ncommunity engagement has shaped such capital project; and\n (i) the extent to which the proposed capital project addresses\npotential risk to patient safety and welfare.\n 5. Disbursement of awards made pursuant to this section shall be\nconditioned on the awardee achieving certain process and performance\nmetrics and milestones as determined in the sole discretion of the\ncommissioner. Such metrics and milestones shall be structured to ensure\nthat the health care transformation and provider sustainability goals of\nthe project are achieved, and such metrics and milestones shall be\nincluded in grant disbursement agreements or other contractual documents\nas required by the commissioner.\n 6. The department shall provide a report on a quarterly basis to the\nchairs of the senate finance, assembly ways and means, senate health and\nassembly health committees. Such reports shall be submitted no later\nthan sixty days after the close of the quarter, and shall include, for\neach award, the name of the applicant, a description of the project or\npurpose, the amount of the award, disbursement date, and status of\nachievement of process and performance metrics and milestones pursuant\nto subdivision five of this section.\n