The Jefferson Rehabilitation Center in Watertown and the St. Lawrence NYSARC in Canton help thousands of people with disabilities. Now they're exploring the idea of becoming one entity.
"It's a good time to look to see what synergies are there, what redundancies are there, what we do well, what we are weak at, and then work together to improve those services," said Howie Ganter, the executive director of the Jefferson Rehabilitation Center.
Over the next three months, the agencies will conduct a review to weigh the pros and cons of merging. Ganter says they don't want to reduce services, but instead see where their services line up and try to combine them.
"Our costs keep going up, so we need to try to find ways to economize and be more efficient," he said.
Both directors say that, in the event any funding is cut or reduced, a merger could help maintain services.
"What we're really trying to do here is be proactive during a time when funding has been reduced significantly to providers like St. Lawrence NYSARC and JRC," said Daphne Pickert, the executive director of St. Lawrence NYSARC.
Ganter says that, along with hopefully strengthening the support they already provide, they could develop even more programs and opportunities in the future.
He also says if the agencies decide to merge, it would be more than a year before it would actually happen.