Rendering of Plattekill facility
PLATTEKILL – Cornerstone Family Health Center, formerly Greater Hudson Valley Family Health Center, will be bringing a facility to the Town of Plattekill. A ceremonial groundbreaking was held on Tuesday.
The new 3,500 square foot center, featuring six exam rooms, a waiting room, an ultrasound lab, care management and physician’s office, is expected to treat approximately 3,000-3,500 patients in its first three years of operation.
Cornerstone was awarded a federal grant through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act for $1 million in construction costs.
Health Center President Linda Muller said the estimated total project cost is $2.2 million, and that additional construction costs of(approximately $700,000, as well as outfitting of exam rooms costing some $35,000, will be funded by their health center.
Before coming to a community, Cornerstone surveys different areas to see where there is need, and what those needs are. Muller said one of the reasons Plattekill was chosen was they found there to be demographically high rates of heart disease and diabetes.
On top of that, Plattekill’s location poses a geographical issue, being that the two closest hospitals – in Newburgh and Poughkeepsie – are more than 15 miles away in either direction.
Muller said their facility will give local residents the opportunity, should they have an emergency, to be treated immediately and their facility’s admitting privilege with St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital will make it quicker for patients to get into the ER once they have been seen.
Although Cornerstone is primarily known for providing medical care to those individuals who are underserved, underinsured, or uninsured, Muller said they will never turn someone away and will offer the same service to all individuals in Plattekill.
“We started with a mission of believing that healthcare is a right, not a privilege; we serve everyone,” Muller said. “So, if you have insurance: come and see us. If you don’t have insurance: come and see us. If you’re an undocumented resident: come and see us. It makes no difference who you are, where you’ve come from, what you look like, or what you do, we see all people…period.”
Congressman Christopher Gibson (R, NY19), who had been involved with Cornerstone before when they came to Broome County, said he thinks the facility is going to be a huge asset for the people in Plattekill.
“Right here, there’s a nexus of need, and as you saw here today, we’re partnered with the church, we’re partnered with the school and the fire department and the business community and the local leaders… community health center indeed, the way they’re able to pull that together,” said Gibson. “And so, I think about what the coming years are going to mean for the greater Plattekill area and this is, absolutely, a great step forward.”
Cornerstone Family Health is hoping to have the new Plattekill facility up and running by the end of the first, or beginning of the second, quarter 2017.
“We’re very excited that we’re now in eight locations, in Orange County, Broome County, and our newest county, obviously, will be Ulster,” said Muller.
