To continue our evolution as an integrated healthcare delivery network, Kaleida Health and its affiliates are taking steps to ensure a more streamlined approach to care delivery through a new integrated service line strategy.
Integrated service lines will allow us to plan and operate our clinical services holistically across the system. The new model, which will be coordinated across Kaleida Health, our affiliates and partners, will align best practices, leverage economies of scale, improve the patient experience and enhance connection across the network.
“Within the new integrated service line model, care is delivered through coordinated multidisciplinary services by health condition (disease group) across the care continuum,” said Don Boyd, president and CEO of Kaleida Health. “This allows us to provide high quality, patient-focused care throughout a patient’s entire healthcare journey.”
This structure promotes care coordination among all the specialties required to treat the specified patient cohort and condition. It also provides a patient-centric approach while improving patient outcomes and efficiencies, facilitating clinical research, and promoting the expansion and integration of prioritized, clinical services to drive Kaleida Health’s ambulatory access and growth goals.
In addition, the integrated system structure facilitates cross-departmental coordination by vesting service line leaders with appropriate decision rights to drive frictionless, horizontal service delivery.
Initially, our service line strategy will focus on some key areas of opportunity, including primary care, oncology, vascular and neurology. Within these services, there will be one person who will oversee all of the places where their service line is delivered and determine how to better deliver the best overall service and care for patients within that service line.
Aligning with this new model, Amy Craib, has been named senior vice president of service lines.
Craib has held several leadership roles over the last 20+ years, including vice president of the Sands-Constellation Heart Institute at Rochester Regional Health (RRH), senior vice president of operations at RRH, and executive vice president and chief service line officer at RRH. Prior to that, she was director of business and support services at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts.
Craib received her bachelor’s degree in political science and public administration from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA, and her Master of Health Administration from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
On April 22, 2024, the first service line leader, Katrina Karas, joined Kaleida Health from RRH, where she had extensive experience with service line work. Karas will initially be supporting oncology, neurology and vascular as she helps develop the service line strategy. We are in the process of interviewing candidates to lead both the primary care and oncology service lines.
Karas most recently served as vice president of the Sands-Constellation Heart Institute at RRH. She also served as associate vice president of cardiac services as well as operations director of cardiology at RRH. Karas was previously director of ambulatory, transplant and renal services at ECMC as well.
She has a bachelor’s degree from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania and a Master of Health Administration from The Ohio State University. Karas is a member of Premier Inc., Cardiovascular Sourcing Committee and American College of Healthcare Executives. In addition, she is a Leadership Buffalo graduate.
Stay tuned for more details as we hire additional service line leaders to move this effort forward.