By Nelson A. King
Despite ongoing protests
over the consolidation of Kingsbrook
Jewish Medical Center in
the epicenter of the Caribbean
community in Brooklyn into
the One Brooklyn Health System,
Inc., the chief executive
officer (CEO) said she remains
“very mission-driven.”
LaRay Brown — who was
appointed, in July 2017, as CEO
of the system, serving Central
and Northeast Brooklyn,
and comprising 12 ambulatory
care centers, three hospitals,
two nursing homes, an assisted
living and independent living
facility, a transitional housing
program, an urgent care center
and a retail pharmacy — told
Caribbean Life, in an exclusive
interview, that she is determined
in ensuring individuals
in all communities have access
to public health.
“I spent my entire career
in public health, human services,”
said Brown, who was
instrumental in the founding
of One Brooklyn Health System,
Caribbean L 20 ife, June 4-10, 2021
Inc. and bringing together
the three diverse boards
— Brookdale Hospital Medical
Center, Interfaith Medical
Center and Kingsbrook Jewish
Medical Center — to create
One Brooklyn Health System,
Inc. and establish a new governance
structure that would
accommodate the combination
of these three health systems.
As CEO of One Brooklyn
Health System, Inc., Brown
said she is now responsible for
the clinical and administrative
integration of three health systems
and the implementation
of a $664 million capital program
funded pursuant to the
New York State Health Care
Facility Transformation Program:
Kings County.
She said her goals and objectives
are “to strengthen access
to healthcare in Central Brooklyn
and to increase ambulatory
services.
“We want to restructure
what we deliver and where we
deliver it,” said Brown, who
also currently serves as the
president and CEO of Interfaith
Medical Center, a position to
which she was appointed in
February 2016. “Healthcare is
facing an affordable crisis. Our
goal is to take a step back and
not to compete with ourselves.
“We must evolve Kingsbrook
as a regional center, and we
want to work as a system, so we
can spend our dollars wisely,”
she added. “We have a structural
gap of more than $300
million. We have been a beneficiary
of New York State to close
that gap, and our mandate is to
close that gap.
“Most of our patients are
with Medicaid, and Medicaid
does not fully reimburse,” the
CEO continued. “One Brooklyn
is to make sure we continue
to be a viable system. We
have very few pork and fat, but
there have to be opportunities
to consolidate.
“We want to reduce how
much we spend on outside entities,”
Brown said. “There are
some opportunities in which
we can reduce our expenses,
One Brooklyn Health System, CEO LaRay Brown. One
Brooklyn Health System, Inc.
but there’s not a lot of fat.”
She said One Brooklyn
Health System, Inc. is also
ensuring that it can consolidate
leadership and administration
in having, as examples,
one chair for cardiology, dental
services, etc.
One Brooklyn Health CEO
remains ‘very mission-driven’
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