Malone, NY– Almost two years after its transition to a federally designated critical access hospital (CAH), University of Vermont Health Network – Alice Hyde Medical Center (AHMC) continues to evolve, building upon its long history of supporting the community’s health care needs.

“Our goal has always been to continue to do what we do best – provide care to the people in this community. This team has worked hard at becoming and staying sustainable so we can honor that commitment. There is more work to be done but we are making progress. We’re focused, too, on keeping care close to home and it’s exciting to see just how far we’ve come. This is the strongest financial position the hospital has been in in five years,” said Alice Hyde and Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital President Michelle LeBeau,RN, MHRM, RHCEOC. “Becoming a critical access hospital has helped reduce our financial vulnerability, allowing us to move forward while navigating the turbulence of our health care industry,” she added.

LeBeau explained that transitioning to a critical access hospital from a sole community hospital has improved reimbursement from government payors, like Medicare and Medicaid, and supported AHMC’s commitment to invest in its people and the organization.

Critical Access Designation Part of Sustainability Plan

Located just 10 miles from the Canadian border in upstate New York, AHMC provides essential health care for 55,000 people in the northernmost part of the state. For years, the hospital weathered numerous challenges faced similarly by other rural hospitals across the country including caring for an older, sicker population, shrinking inpatient volumes and reimbursement rates that did not keep pace with the cost of providing care.

As part of a multi-year plan to make the hospital financially sustainable and offer care that responded to the needs of its community, AHMC’s leadership and Board of Directors, in close partnership with University of Vermont Health Network leaders, began the process to become a CAH. The hospital received state and federal approval  in October 2023.

AHMC Chief Financial Officer Matt Kollar offered, “This designation better reflects how this hospital had been functioning – with a smaller inpatient footprint and an emphasis of solidifying primary and outpatient specialty care.”

Throughout the process, the Alice Hyde team continued to diligently lay groundwork for the future of care in their community. Kollar said community need and sustainability have been the driving forces.

The collaboration with Hudson Headwaters Health Network is a great example of the AHMC’s vision for the future. “We’re working together to improve primary care access,” Kollar explained. The Queensbury, NY-based non-profit Federally Qualified Health Care network is building a 13,000 square-foot primary care center on the AHMC campus which is scheduled to be completed in 2026.

Enhanced Services and New Providers

AHMC has also been successful in adding and enhancing a number of clinical specialties and services offered in Malone including gastroenterology, general surgery and primary care. Lori DeFreest, MD, FACS, PhD, general surgeon, began practicing in Malone in 2024, offering a variety of laparoscopic and open surgeries, with a focus on outpatient and ambulatory procedures. Gastroenterologist Robert Gal, MD, joined Alice Hyde in May 2025 providing a full spectrum of services. Candy Atkinson, FNP and Emily Russell, AGNP-C were welcome that same month, bolstering primary care services.

“Quality care close to home is always one of our underlying goals. We benefit from being part of a health system connected to an academic medical center. Providers from numerous specialties come to Malone to see patients, reducing patient travel and making it easier for them to get the care they need,” said LeBeau.

Driving Real Change for the Workforce

“While the workforce shortage continues to be a challenge, we’re making a difference by empowering our current employees as well as aspiring health care professionals with vital training and development opportunities,” LeBeau said.

AHMC employees have benefited from the health system’s Workforce Development Center, growing professionally while helping to improve access for their entire community.

Right Patient, Right Care in the Right Place

As part of its transition to CAH status, Alice Hyde instituted a swing bed program that enables patients who meet certain eligibility requirements to receive sub-acute care and rehabilitation services without having to transfer to a skilled nursing facility. “Swing beds let us provide personalized inpatient care and rehab in the right setting. This helps our entire system by freeing up medical surgical beds for those who need them and helping reduce extended stays in the Emergency Departments,” Kollar explained. Since November of 2023, 281 patients have taken advantage of the swing bed program.

“We’re focused on providing high quality, more affordable care close to home, regardless of where you get care in our health system – that’s our long-term plan and each of our sites plays an important role in how we function. Alice Hyde delivers great care locally and has direct access to higher acuity services at University of Vermont Medical Center; this is our model to provide the support that our communities need and remain sustainable for a long time,” said Sunny Eappen, MD, MBA, UVM Health Network president and chief executive officer.

Sustainability and Access Plan Beginning to Show Progress

Alice Hyde along with UVM Health Network partner CAH hospitals Elizabethtown Community Hospital and Porter Medical Center were nationally recognized by Beckers Hospital Review and included in its “27 Critical Access Hospitals to Know” earlier this year.

“Critical access status has not changed the way this team provides care or their commitment to this community. These past two years have been about doing everything we can to ensure we are here always to provide the care our community needs,” LeBeau added.

After years of struggling to stabilize its finances, Kollar said AHMC is beginning to see the benefits of the CAH status. “We are seeing an increase in reimbursement. Volumes are strong and the team is doing an amazing job of managing their budgets.” He cautioned however, that changes in federal health care policy, particularly in Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement will challenge AHMC, and all rural hospitals, to think and work differently to be sure their communities continue to have access to quality care.

“We are seeing the positive outcomes of our long-term planning come to fruition for our New York partners and I’m incredibly thankful to the hospital’s leaders and Board of Directors for supporting this work,” Eappen added.