WELLSVILLE — Jones Memorial Hospital officials are celebrating 10 years of affiliation with UR Medicine.

Marking the occasion, officials looked back on the agreement which connected the 49-bed hospital into the UR network, and its impact on local health care opportunities.

“Ten years ago, we made a commitment to strengthen healthcare in our community by joining a larger health system, while staying true to who we are as a local community hospital,” said Jones President and CEO Jim Helms. “Over the past decade, this affiliation has allowed us to expand services, recruit exceptional providers, and bring advanced care closer to home. Most importantly, it has ensured that our neighbors, friends, and families can continue to receive high-quality, compassionate care right here, today and for generations to come.”

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“Our decision to affiliate ten years ago was guided by one priority: doing what was right for our community,” said hospital board Chair Dan Johnson. “As a board, we’ve seen firsthand how this partnership has strengthened the hospital’s foundation — enhancing financial stability, supporting growth, while preserving local autonomy. And as a direct result of our efforts to provide high quality for this community, we saw in the past two years the CMS 4-star rating designation, and just this year were recognized as a FORBES Top Hospital for 2026. We are proud of what this affiliation has made possible and remain deeply committed to ensuring our hospital continues to serve this community with integrity, accountability, and vision.”

The effort came as other local hospitals joined the Southern Region of the UR network — made up primarily of Jones, St. James in Hornell in 2018, and Noyes in Dansville in 2016 — has partnered on several lines of treatment, including pain management, neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, and urology. Many of the services are provided by doctors who travel between the hospitals — expanding opportunities for treatment that would otherwise require a drive to Buffalo or Rochester to receive.

In 2018, Jones partnered with St James to open the Women’s & Children’s Health Services Suite, bringing these services to the Steuben County region and expanding the Jones Memorial primary care footprint into a larger region. In 2024, this partnership expanded further with St. James and UR Medicine, with the opening of the Neurology, Rheumatology and Infusion space in the Hornell Medical Office Building.

The partnership was also a major benefit during the largest health crisis in the nation in more than a century. During the COVID-19 pandemic, which claimed 125 lives in the county, Jones officials said the partnership with area hospitals and UR Medicine allowed Jones to navigate this complex situation with greater flexibility as other hospitals struggled.

“Working with our partners allowed us to gain access to supply lines, technology and expertise that we otherwise would have struggled to manage,” Helms said.

Officials are particularly proud of increased cancer care in the region. In early 2017, Jones Memorial, Wilmot Cancer Institute, and Noyes Health collaborated to establish The Ann and Carl Myers Cancer Center at Noyes. The Wilmot Cancer Institute partnered with Jones Memorial on an infusion center in Wellsville, and an oncology and infusion center opened in Olean in 2020. In 2025, the Wilmot Cancer Institute received National Cancer Institute designation, and the Wellsville location combined to provide both oncology and infusion in one state of the art suite.

The partnership also helped with the transformation and modernization project of 2021. The project included a 14,000 square foot addition to the third floor, housing orthopaedics, family medicine and OB and pediatrics in a new Medical Village. The total project also included a 5,000 square foot renovation to surgical services, adding two additional procedure and operating rooms, as well as a new upgraded MRI machine and renovated space. Work wrapped in 2025, and now includes a combined oncology and infusion suite as well as an expanded general surgery clinic allowing providers to address more concerns directly without scheduling with surgical services. Also housed in the site are oncology and infusion.

Jones was designated as a Rural Health Clinic for their Primary Care offices, allowing Jones to continue operating primary care offices in Belvidere, Bolivar and Wellsville. The hospital also opened new practices in Andover and Alfred in 2023, and assumed operations in the Hornell Primary Care in 2024.

“By bringing primary care to more people in our region, we improve the quality of life for all,” Helms said.

Looking ahead, officials said the hospital’s future objectives include primary care expansion, provider recruitment and continued assessment of service line strategies.