Health Department Announced Funding for Physician Training Reform
Albany February 6, 1998 – Hospitals and Graduate Medical Education (GME) consortia representing 67 hospitals across the state will receive nearly $45 million in incentive awards to recognize their achievements in reforming physician training programs to better meet the health care needs of New Yorkers, State Health Commissioner Barbara A. DeBuono, M.D., announced today.
The state funds are from a $54 million GME Incentive Pool, created by the Health Care Reform Act of 1996. They are intended to encourage teaching hospitals and hospital consortia to adapt their physician training programs in response to changing health care priorities.
"Hospitals in New York State have earned the distinction of being the finest training ground for physicians anywhere in the world," Dr. DeBouno said. "However, many of our medical schools were training too many specialists and not enough primary care doctors. These awards reflect the changing health care delivery system that focuses on primary and preventive services –– keeping New Yorkers healthy."
"The incentive pool seeks to restructure New York's graduate medical education programs to produce fewer residents with a focus on high quality training to produce the doctors we need most," said Dr. DeBuono. "The end result will be a larger supply of primary care physicians and greater access to preventive health care for all New Yorkers."
The GME Reform Incentive Pool provides financial incentives for hospitals and medical training consortia that support goals to train more primary care physicians, to include underrepresented minorities in physician training programs, and to maintain the quality of training while reducing the overall number of medical residents.
To qualify for these initial funds, hospital and consortia were required to demonstrate that at least 95 percent of their medical residents were enrolled in accredited training programs during 1997, and that the number of graduate medical trainees enrolled in their programs dropped by two percent or more. Training programs limited to primary care were not required to downsize.
During 1997, New York hospitals shifted 1,100 medical residents into primary care training and eliminated 900 specialty training positions. Goals for the next two years include training more residents at ambulatory care sites, increasing the number of primary care physicians who remain in New York after graduation, and inducing them to practice in medically underserved areas of the state.
Thirty–four hospitals and five GME consortia comprising a total of 67 hospitals will receive GME Reform Incentive Pool monies during this first round of funding. In the next few months, more than $8 million in additional incentive funds will be awarded to GME training programs that meet the goal of training underrepresented minorities.
Teaching Hospitals and GME consortia qualifying for GME Reform Incentive Pool funding in 1997
| Qualifying Teaching Hospitals and GME Consortia | Number of Residents in 1995 or 1996 | Estimated Distribution | |
|---|---|---|---|
| * | Albany Medical Center | 309 | $1,066,654 |
| * | Beth Israel Medical Center | 429 | $1,415,621 |
| Bronx Lebanon Hospital | 298 | $969,107 | |
| * | Bronx Municipal Hospital | 306 | $863,696 |
| Brookdale Hospital Medical Center | 298 | $588,922 | |
| * | Catholic Medical Center | 173 | $653,463 |
| * | Coney Island Hospital | 126 | $476,016 |
| Ellis Hospital | 5 | $14,331 | |
| Flushing Hospital | 123 | $347,547 | |
| Good Samaritan (West Islip) | 33 | $156,342 | |
| * | Graduate Medical Dental Education Consortium of Buffalo | 676 | $1,358,439 |
| Graduate Medical Education Consortium of Rochester | 728 | $2,708,437 | |
| Harlem Hospital Center | 315 | $889,295 | |
| * | Jamaica Hospital | 119 | $447,459 |
| Kings County Medical Center | 456 | $1,288,465 | |
| Lincoln Medical & Mental Health Center | 320 | $904,186 | |
| * | Long Island College Hospital | 222 | $835,619 |
| Long Island Jewish Hospital | 503 | $1,420,985 | |
| * | Maimonides Medical Center | 385 | $1,450,051 |
| Manhattan Eye, Ear & Throat Hospital | 34 | $95,957 | |
| * | Mary Imogene Bassett | 49 | $134,344 |
| * | Metropolitan Hospital Center | 244 | $919,256 |
| * | Montefiore Hospital | 793 | $2,240,687 |
| * | Mount Sinai School of Medicine Consortium for Graduate Medical Education | 1178 | $3,899,369 |
| Nassau County Medical Center | 320 | $1,768,715 | |
| New York Hospital/Payne Whitney | 565 | $717,768 | |
| * | New York University School of Medicine Graduate Medical Education Consortium | 1364 | $5,139,809 |
| * | North Central Bronx Hospital | 119 | $447,195 |
| * | Northern Metropolitan Graduate Medical Education Consortium | 446 | $2,132,707 |
| Presbyterian Hospital (& Allen Pavilion) | 696 | $2,622,254 | |
| St. Clare's Hospital (Schenectady) | 42 | $80,252 | |
| St. Elizabeth's Medical Center | 25 | $25,969 | |
| * | St. Joseph's Hospital (Syracuse) | 57 | $479,062 |
| * | St. Luke's Roosevelt | 503 | $1,421,974 |
| * | St. Peter's Hospital | 31 | $112,825 |
| St. Vincent's Medical Center (Manhattan) | 332 | $845,047 | |
| SUNY Brooklyn | 187 | $528,214 | |
| * | SUNY Stony Brook | 369 | $2,968,693 |
| * | Woodhull Medical & Mental Health Center | 126 | $476,205 |
| $44,910,937 |
* Institutions and GME consortia which have downsized by at least 5% and have at least 20% of their residents in primary care.
2/6/98–10 OPA
