Bassett Healthcare is a system of physicians, providers, hospitals, community and school-based health centers in eight counties of central New York.
The Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital, the foundation for this network, is an 180-bed, acute care inpatient teaching facility in Cooperstown. Also included on the Cooperstown campus is the Bassett Clinic, an outpatient primary and specialty care center. Around the region, Bassett provides primary, preventive, and outpatient care at 23 health centers, and acute inpatient care at affiliated sites: O'Connor Hospital in Delhi and Bassett Hospital of Schoharie County in Cobleskill. Medical services and emergency care are also provided by Bassett Healthcare at Little Falls Hospital, due to a new partnership formed in 2004. Two ambulatory surgery centers are also available in the region.
An affiliated skilled inpatient nursing facility, Valley Health Services, provides services in Herkimer. In addition, 24-hour emergency and trauma care, comprehensive cancer care, dialysis, and most medical and surgical specialties, are provided in Cooperstown. Outpatient specialty care is available throughout the region with Bassett specialists seeing patients at many of the health centers.
Outpatient services at the 23 health centers are located in Canajoharie, Cherry Valley, Cobleskill, Delanson, Delhi, Edmeston, Gloversville, Hamilton, Herkimer, Morris, Norwich, two centers in Oneonta, Richfield Springs, Schoharie, Sharon Springs, Sherburne, Sidney, Stamford, Unadilla, Walton, and West Winfield.
Bassett Healthcare is a 225-physician multi-specialty practice (the Bassett Physician Group, one of the largest group practices in New York State) with board-certified providers in more than 35 medical and surgical subspecialties, and 110 non-doctoral health care providers and allied health professionals. Recognized as one of the finest rural health systems in the country, Bassett Healthcare surgeons and specialists offer services not typically found in a rural region. Bassett's mission is one of commitment to patient care, research, and medical education. We have provided comprehensive patient-centered health care since the 1920s.
Medical education programs at Bassett include residency training in internal medicine, general surgery, a traditional rotating osteopathic internship, and a transitional year residency. There are approximately 55 residents in our residency training programs annually. Medical student programs are also supported at Bassett through affiliations with Columbia University, Albany Medical College, University of Rochester, University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNECOM), New York College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYCOM), and Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM). In 2004, 167 students completed rotations at Bassett.
The Mithoefoer Center for Rural Surgery was established in 2003 to study current issues facing rural surgeons in the United States and to provide a Rural Residency Track for general surgeons planning to practice in a rural setting. The Center has established a Rural Surgical Fellowship for advanced training in the subspecialties. The Center also works with local and national professional societies, hospital groups, insurers, and government agencies to promote and improve the practice environment of rural surgeons.
In the interests of providing high quality health care to patients in our region,
- The Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital is a NYSDOH designated Area Trauma Center that provides patients and families with state of the art emergency care services.
- The Bassett Heart Care Institute was established to offer interventional cardiology services and cardiac surgery to central New York.
- Bassett Healthcare’s six School-Based Health Centers provide comprehensive health care services to students in grades K-12. The health centers are a collaboration between the school districts and Bassett.
- Bassett completed significant upgrades to the inpatient facilities in Cooperstown, with improvements in physical capacity, convenience, and quality, as well as enhancements to several of the outpatient health centers. The Critical Care Complex, totaling 24,488 square feet, was added to the new fifth floor of The Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital. The Complex is comprised of two distinct nursing units, an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and a Special Care Unit (SCU) that support medical, surgical, cardiology and cardiac surgery programs requiring sophisticated levels of patient monitoring and life support.
In recognition of this high quality of care, in 2004 Bassett received the nation’s highest honor for nursing excellence, Magnet Recognition by the American Nurses Association.
Research is one of Bassett's founding missions along with education and patient care, allowing the attraction of dedicated and innovative staff. Bassett Healthcare's Research Institute remains committed to the legacy of its Nobel prize winning predecessors, seeking new information and new strategies for preventing, detecting and treating disease. Topics under active investigation through the Bassett Research Institute include cancer, lipid metabolism, nutrition, and pharmacology. Obesity is a major focus of research efforts at Bassett. In addition, the Research Institute provides public health services, education and population-based studies.
Utilization/Market Statistics
Bassett Healthcare serves over 43 percent of the total discharges for its core county, Otsego, and also provides a significant percentage of care to primary market counties in Herkimer, Schoharie, and Delaware. In 2004, the Hospital discharged a total of 10,592 patients and performed 3,050 ambulatory surgeries. Bassett’s main clinic in Cooperstown and the 21 regional health centers located throughout its service area recorded nearly half a million outpatient visits in 2004.
System Participation
Bassett has maintained a formal affiliation with Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons since 1947, and has actively participated in joint teaching and research initiatives throughout this relationship. Bassett joined the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System in 2003. In 2009 Bassett formalized a relationship with Columbia to bring a medical campus of the College of Physicians and Surgeons to Cooperstown, NY.