Alice Hyde Celebrates 75 Years of American Hospital Association Membership
Malone, NY (9/10/2024) – University of Vermont Health Network – Alice Hyde Medical Center was honored Tuesday as a 75-year member of the American Hospital Association (AHA), a nationwide network of thousands of hospitals, health care systems and providers of care that provides insight and education for health care leaders, tracks industry issues and trends, and helps drive health care policy development.
Michael Draine, AHA Regional Executive, presented an award celebrating the hospital’s leadership and AHA participation to Michelle LeBeau, President of Alice Hyde, calling its dedication to caring for North Country communities essential and laudable.
“The American Hospital Association is proud to recognize Alice Hyde Medical Center for seventy-five years of membership in the AHA and for their dedication to the North County,” said Draine. “We thank their leaders, medical staff, caregivers and other colleagues for providing a full range of medical care that is tailored to each patient’s needs.”
Michelle LeBeau, in accepting the AHA award, said Alice Hyde’s work caring for North Country communities goes together with its focus on addressing longstanding challenges that impact health care for rural communities and the health care organizations that serve them.
“Alice Hyde Medical Center is proud of our partnership with the American Hospital Association,” said Michelle LeBeau, President of Alice Hyde Medical Center. “Improving health care and addressing the many challenges facing rural communities and the health care organizations that care for them requires strong partnerships and innovative solutions. We look forward to continuing to advance the health of individuals and communities throughout the North Country.”
Established in 1913 with the support of philanthropic donations from communities throughout Franklin County and named in honor of a major donor’s beloved niece who had recently passed away, Alice Hyde Medical Center filled a critical need for residents of North Country communities who, until the hospital’s founding, were forced to travel long distances to receive medical care.
Throughout the proceeding decades, the hospital continued to add space and services, constructing a pediatric ward in the 1930s that was funded through a generous donation by the American Legion supplemented by community fundraising. In the 1950s and 60s, the hospital added a five-story building housing medical, surgical, obstetrical and nursing units – as well as dietary, x-ray and emergency services. In 1968, the hospital established the Alice Hyde Nursing Home to provide 24-hour skilled nursing care for Franklin County’s aging population.
As medical technology continued to develop at a rapid pace, Alice Hyde’ opened the Ben and Irene Bregman Memorial Wing in 1989, housing a fully computerized pharmacy, emergency department, ambulatory services, laboratory and medical imaging services.
In the 1990s, Alice Hyde dramatically expanded its presence in communities throughout Franklin County, establishing four community-based health centers – Bessette Health Center, Dwyer Health Center, Leroux Health Center and Tower Health Center – to provide basic laboratory services and primary care. The centers, which are staffed by physicians and advance practice providers, earned federal certification as Rural Health Clinics in 2019. The hospital also established the Reddy Cancer Treatment Center, a hemodialysis clinic and orthopedic and rehabilitation centers on its campus in Malone.
In 1999, the hospital was renamed Alice Hyde Medical Center, reflecting its evolution from an acute care facility to an organization offering a broad suite of primary and specialty services. That year, Alice Hyde also added an MRI suite to its imaging services.
The past two decades have seen Alice Hyde continue its commitment to connecting North Country communities with leading-edge health care. In 2009, the hospital was named Organization of the Year by the Malone Chamber of Commerce, celebrating its efforts in pursuit of innovative medicine, growth and community programs and recognizing Alice Hyde’s economic impact as one of the largest employers in the community. In 2013, the hospital celebrated its 100-year anniversary.
In 2015 the hospital opened The Alice Center, a state-of-the-art long term care facility that includes a 135-bed Skilled Nursing Facility and a 30-bed Assisted Living Program. The first facility of its kind in the region, The Alice Center provides residents with a homelike atmosphere designed to promote privacy and dignity.
In 2017, Alice Hyde joined University of Vermont Health Network, becoming the fifth hospital to join the health system and strengthening its ties to University of Vermont Medical Center, with which it had been affiliated since 1997. Alice Hyde’s commitment to regional partnerships, both with UVM Medical Center and Plattsburgh-based UVM Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (CVPH), continues to bring a variety of specialty services to Malone, ranging from Cardiology, Oncology, Pulmonology and Vascular Surgery to Interventional Radiology.
In 2020, Alice Hyde’ constructed a new inpatient pharmacy on the hospital’s second floor. The expanded space improved safety features for medication mixing, expanded space to accommodate increasing demands for inpatient and outpatient medication support, and provided a state-of-the-art space for a pharmacy team that provides medication support for clinical departments ranging from cancer treatment to long-term care. The project, funded by grant money from New York’s Statewide Health Care Facility Transformation Program, cost approximately $1 million.
In 2022, Alice Hyde established an advanced clinical simulation laboratory on the hospital’s third floor. Featuring advanced clinical training mannequins purchased with the help of philanthropic donations, the lab hosts dozens of clinical trainings each year and draws student groups, medical residents and established physicians, nurses and clinical teams from throughout the region served by UVM Health Network.
In 2023, Alice Hyde became a Critical Access Hospital – a designation that improves financial reimbursements from the federal government and allowed the hospital to integrate sub-acute care into its Medical-Surgical inpatient unit. The program, known as Swing Beds, allows patients to receive skilled nursing care and other sub-acute services they would otherwise need to transfer to a skilled nursing facility to receive.
In 2024, Alice Hyde began working with Hudson Headwaters Health Network to expand access to primary care for residents throughout Franklin County. Alice Hyde relocated numerous on-campus primary and specialty care clinics to newly renovated areas on the hospital’s Ground Floor and Second floor, and demolished buildings near the heart of its campus. The land was sold to Hudson Headwaters, which plans to construct a new Primary Care Medical Facility on the 2.4-acre parcel. Construction on that facility is expected to begin by the end of the year.