By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- Massena Memorial Hospital will pursue an affiliation with five other area hospitals known as the North Country Initiative Organization, the MMH Board of Managers decided Monday.

MMH CEO Robert Wolleben said the affiliation, which comes with an $80,000 up-front payment, will qualify them for millions in state funding to help pay for their yearly contribution to the state retirement system.

“There is no other vehicle … to get into the Vital Access funding pool,” Wolleben said. The program used to be called Interim Access Assurance Fund, which gave MMH over $4 million last year.

In addition to being eligible for state aid, they will be able to get a better deal on medical supplies and lab expenses because all of the hospitals go in as a bulk buyer.

Wolleben estimates this could be a quarter million dollars or more annually.

“The return on the investment, $80,000, to me it’s a no-brainer,” said MMH board member Dave McClennan.

“There’s a real savings possibility,” Wolleben said.

MMH would owe each year 1/12 of the NCIO budget. MMH would have two seats on its board and have voting power.

“We actually get to control, to some extent, what our future expenses will be,” Wolleben said.

Borgosz said the affiliation will not affect MMH operations.

“It’s not going to affect our facility, or what we do, on a day-to-day basis,” MMH board member Gary Borgosz said, who is also the finance committee chairman.

The network includes Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center, Samaritan Medical Center, River Hospital, Carthage Area Hospital and Clifton-Find Hospital.

“Most of those hospitals have similar issues to ours,” Wolleben said.