By JIMMY LAWTON

North Country Now

St. Lawrence Health Alliance will dissolve, but all 72 employees will be offered jobs at Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center, according to officials.

SLHA Director Beth Stemples says all 72 employees will be offered similar, if not the same positions with CHMC.

The dissolution is expected to be completed by March 31.

Stemples said most employees will still work in the same place they do now, but will receive a paycheck from a different employer. She said because the hospital is union and the Health Alliance is not, negotiations regarding pay and benefits will take place, but the goal was to have employees maintain their current wages.

“Our goal is that there is no change,” she said.

Stemples said the health benefits offered by the hospital will also be significantly better. She said as a smaller employer the Health Alliance could not offer benefits on par with the hospital.

The hospital does offer a richer health insurance package, she said.

CHMC spokesperson Laura Shea explained that on top of the insurance provided to hospital employees, additional balances beyond insurance coverage can be written off providing significant savings for employees.

Stemples said the Health Alliance offers management services for health care providers. Founded in the 1990s the organization once provided office services for independent practitioners. However, she said in recent years health care providers have started to centralize at the hospital. She said that has led to duplication of services between CHMC and the Health Alliance.

Currently the Health Alliance provides services for about 25 doctors or medical care providers.

She said the move will allow consolidation of payroll, time keeping system and other services, which should result in a savings for the hospital.

“It’s purely for efficiencies,” she said.

She said the transition should be a benefit to the hospital as well as the employees at the Health Alliance. The change makes sense because the “industry has changed” significantly over the past two decades, Stemples said.

The St. Lawrence Health Alliance is located within Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center.