On Jan. 7, Cayuga Health and Arnot Health announced their merger, known as Centralus Health. The goal of the merger is to provide a streamlined healthcare system and a larger community reach. Because Ithaca College’s Student Health Services merged with the Cayuga Health System in 2022, students will be able to access new resources and technologies from Arnot Health.
Centralus Health will provide healthcare services to people in the Southern Tier, Finger Lakes and Central New York Regions. It will provide care for five hospitals in New York state including Cayuga Medical Center. The partnership between Arnot Health and Cayuga Health was made in order to provide these regions and hospitals with a wider array of services, the ability to reach underserved populations and support local healthcare delivery.
Melissa Tourtellotte, vice president of Marketing and Communications at Cayuga Health, declined to comment. Danielle R. De Souza, senior public information officer at the New York State Department of Health also declined to comment.
The plans for Centralus Health are awaiting official approval from the New York State Department of Health before the new system and administration changes can be implemented. Upon approval, Martin Stallone, Cayuga Health’s current CEO, will be the CEO of Centralus Health while Jonathan Lawrence, CEO of Arnot Health, will be the executive vice president of Centralus Health.
“As health systems face increasing financial and workforce challenges, this partnership enables us to leverage shared resources, increase efficiencies and ultimately lower operational costs,” Lawrence said in a press release. “Centralus Health will continue to focus on deepening community connections and setting a higher standard for personalized care in every service we provide.”
Jennifer Metzgar, director of Student Health Services for Cayuga Health at Ithaca College, said the main change students will see on campus is that the Cayuga Health System, including Hammond Health Center, will be implementing EPIC, an electronic health record system.
“EPIC will help patients have more access to their healthcare providers and to their medical information, but it will also help providers share information amongst each other,” Metzgar said. “So I see that as the major benefit to Ithaca College students.”
Original merger of Hammond Health Center and Cayuga Health
Employees of the college’s Student Health Services used to be completely independent of the Cayuga Health System and were employees of the college. In August 2022, IC joined the Cayuga Health System’s network. The partnership was created in hopes of providing IC students with wider access to services — including expanded hours and mental health services — and to take some of the financial burden of rising healthcare costs off of the college.
Metzgar said Centralus Health is a positive change for the local area and the college.
“[The merger] was really done to help increase access and resources among the community,” Metzgar said. “They’re really hoping, over time, to increase and expand networks increasing primary care in Chemung and Tompkins counties.”
Both organizations are working toward expanding their services such as providing more access to emergency services, critical cardiac care, cancer care, labor and delivery and NICU Long Term Care.
Despite the change, not all students feel confident in Centralus Health’s promises. Senior Chris Morris said has been going to Hammond Health Center as well as the Cayuga Medical Center –– a hospital within the Cayuga Health System –– since coming to IC in 2021, which before the merger.
Morris said he has not had issues with the quality of care at Hammond Health Center except that he gets referred off campus to the Cayuga Medical Center more now since they partnered with the college.
“The process from going from Hammond to Cayuga has not been beneficial to me,” Morris said. “Every time I go to Hammond they’ve told me this is what’s wrong, here’s your medication. But when it’s time to … go to Cayuga, that’s where my problems lie.”
Morris said he visited the Cayuga Medical Center earlier this month and experienced poor treatment while seeking immediate care.
“They’re either understaffed or they definitely have a system that’s flawed,” Morris said. “So [I’m] not the biggest fan.”
Centralus Health has 6,500 employees, which is an increase from the 2,800 employees that Cayuga Health had on its own.
National concerns
Due to the rising cost of providing healthcare, mergers between healthcare systems are becoming more frequent. In 2022, at the time of IC’s partnership with Cayuga Health, there were 49 hospital mergers compared to 72 in 2024.
Mary Bentley, associate professor in the Department of Health Sciences and Public Health, said she is not surprised by the merger between Cayuga Health and Arnot Health.
“It is a trend nationally,” Bentley said. “Many little hospitals can’t make it and are subsumed under a larger corporate structure.”
Hospitals in the U.S. are still struggling financially from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. These mergers, especially for smaller hospitals, allow them to continue operations instead of being forced to close or reduce their quality of care.
Following the previous merger students are now required to show an insurance card and pay a copay in order to access the Hammond Health Center’s services. IC no longer subsidizes the whole cost of services and instead charges students through their insurance provider. Subsidizing health insurance was created by the Affordable Care Act to reduce the amount of out-of-pocket costs for health coverage. Without subsidized healthcare, students face paying higher rates.
Metzgar said that for now, the merger will not affect much at the Hammond Health Center. She said that all previously accepted insurance will continue to be accepted.
To help with this transition, IC hired Deanne Poitras as Hammond’s Health Insurance Navigator in Spring 2024. The position was created to help students and families understand their insurance coverage and help them make informed health insurance decisions.
Metzgar said she wants to assure students that mental health services provided by the Center for Counseling & Psychological Services will not be affected by any future changes to the Hammond Health Center following this merger.
“I think that the merger is more about planning [for] the healthcare needs of the community,” Metzgar said. “[Cayuga Health and Arnot Health] have a very large vision in mind … which should help us so we can all bring each other’s strengths to the table.”
