Category Archives: Health / Community Services

By Carol Ann Conover

Amy McByrne started working at Warren County’s Countryside Adult Home straight out of high school, thinking she was taking a gap year. Thirty-five years later, she is the facility’s director.

“I thought I was taking a gap year,” McByrne said. “And then all of a sudden it’s, yeah, I’m 20, and I’m like, you know, I really love what I do. And it just became — yeah, this is it, this is me.”

The facility, at 353 Schroon River Road in Warrensburg, is a 48-bed adult home owned and operated by Warren County and regulated by the New York State Department of Health. It operates on a social model of care — not acute medical care — designed for individuals who need supervision, medication assistance, transportation to appointments, help with personal care and access to nutritious meals but who do not require skilled nursing.

Beyond residential services, Countryside operates an adult day care program, offers respite care and serves as the production site for the Warren County Office for the Aging’s Meals on Wheels program. The facility prepares about 100 meals a day, five days a week, for delivery by Office for the Aging staff and volunteers throughout the Warrensburg and Chestertown areas.

By Carol Ann Conover

When a parent in Warren, Washington or Saratoga counties goes looking for infant care today, the search often ends before it begins. The wait list at the Saratoga Regional YMCA’s Malta Early Learning Center stretches two years. In some cases, families are signing up before they even try to conceive.

That reality is not an anomaly. It is the baseline. Between 2019 and 2022, the number of regulated childcare facilities in Warren County fell 40 percent, from 50 to 30, according to a 2023 needs assessment by the Southern Adirondack Child Care Network. Washington County lost 37 percent of its facilities over the same period. Across New York state, 60 percent of census tracts qualified as childcare deserts in 2023, a designation meaning at least three children under age five exist for every available slot, according to a February 2025 report from the Office of the State Comptroller. Rural upstate communities, the report found, are the most negatively affected.

Into that void, the Saratoga Regional YMCA operates a layered system of childcare programming across its six branches. The association expanded its footprint on Jan. 1, 2025, when the Family YMCA of the Glens Falls Area officially merged to become its sixth branch, deepening the organization’s reach across Warren County. The programming spans a licensed full-day daycare center at its Malta Early Learning Center serving approximately 100 children from infancy through kindergarten, a half-day preschool program at its Saratoga Springs branch serving 45 children ages 2 through 4, Universal Pre-Kindergarten classrooms operated in partnership with the Saratoga Springs and Schuylerville school districts serving roughly 72 children, and a school-age before-and-after-care program operating at 15 locations across seven school districts throughout the three-county region, including Glens Falls, Queensbury, Ballston Spa, and Saratoga Springs.

By Paul Post 

ASCEND Chief Executive Officer Andrea Deepe wants everyone, but business owners especially, to know that help is only a phone call away.

Her non-profit agency is Warren and Washington counties’ main mental health wellness provider with numerous programs and support services available.

Just about every workplace has some degree of stress, but unsettling geopolitical issues, fast-rising prices and mounting financial pressures have contributed to unhealthy levels of anxiety and depression for many people.

“People are having to make some really difficult decisions now more than ever,” Deepe said. “We’re just all trying to keep up and get it done; just trying to show up for work and be there for our families. It’s a lot for a person to take on, especially when there’s no rulebook or guidebook for these types of life scenarios.”

Large companies and small firms alike should be cognizant of such issues and do their best help employees because as Deepe said, “If you don’t have them, you don’t have your business, so you have to invest in them and that includes mind and body. It makes a significant difference when you have top-down leadership who are invested in their employees.”

By Rod Bacon

An idea floated at a breakfast meeting at Shirley’s Diner in Saratoga Springs six years ago has finally come to fruition.

Three local residents — Cheryl Hage-Perez, Ray O’Conor and Tiffany LeAndrea — were planning the annual Veterans’ Ball, a fund raiser for the Ballston Spa-based Veterans & Community Housing Coalition. 

Eventually, the conversation turned to the unmet needs of veterans. LeAndrea, an Air Force veteran with two children, mentioned the fact that there wasn’t a facility where veteran women in similar situations could find housing and support services while they are making the often difficult transition from the military to civilian life. 

“Later that night Ray called me and said ‘We need to do something for veterans in this situation’,” Hage-Perez said. “That’s how Foreverly House started to take shape.”

The inspiration for the name came from a song entitled “Foreverly” penned in 2017 by local singer/songwriter Jeff Brisbin.

Foreverly House is comprised of two separate living spaces, each with its own entrance and each featuring four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, dining area, pantry, and laundry room, ensuring privacy and comfort for the families. It will welcome its first residents June 1.

“Beyond housing, Foreverly House provides on-site counseling and facilitates access to essential services, empowering veteran mothers to rebuild their lives while keeping their families intact,” said Hage-Perez, executive board liaison for the Veterans & Community Housing Coalition.

Salem Family Health, Hudson Headwaters Health Network’s 26th brick-and-mortar health center, is now open. Located at 1830 County Route 64, Salem Family Health is a 14,300-square-foot building with nine exam rooms for general primary care and three exam rooms designated for pediatrics. Hudson Headwaters has also partnered with Glens Falls Hospital to operate on-site lab services at the center.

“The establishment of Salem Family Health has been a longtime community effort, with many details thoughtfully developed to improve access, convenience and patient experiences for years to come,” said Hudson Headwaters CEO Tucker Slingerland, M.D. “Salem was our first community to experience mobile health in 2021, resulting in numerous patients establishing primary care for themselves and their families, some for the very first time. This demand encouraged our further investment in Washington County. We thank Salem town officials and community members for their ongoing engagement and partnership.”

Salem Family Health opens with 14 employees, including full-time providers, Hunter Southerland, M.D., Jillian Herrington, PNP and Sarah Hyland, FNP. Services include family medicine, pediatrics, gynecology, nutrition counseling, as well as virtual care management and behavioral health services. Future plans include a community pharmacy on-site, and Hudson Headwaters will inform the community once updates are available.

Salem Family Health also includes the Stewart’s Shops/Dake Family Teaching Kitchen, a state-of-the-art space offering patients and community members free nutrition classes. A program series called “Kitchen RX: Cooking for Better Health” will launch in June, with classes scheduled throughout the remainder of 2025. This program series is made possible by the Mary McClellan Foundation.

By Rod Bacon

Due to a need for more space, Southern Adirondack Child Care Network recently relocated to 16 Pearl Street in Glens Falls. The move was celebrated on April 24 with a ribbon cutting hosted by the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce and well attended by community stakeholders, current and former staff, and board members.

“We moved for a variety of reasons,” said Lynn Sickles, executive director of SACCN. “We were a bit crowded in our old location and the opportunity presented itself to move to a larger space.”

Sickles noted that the organization now has a training room that can be used for the education of child care providers.

Founded in 1992, the network has leased space for many years from Community, Work & Independence (CWI), first at 88 Broad Street and later at 37 Everts Avenue in Glens Falls.

Southern Adirondack Independent Living has launched the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPA), a collaborative initiative with BRIDGES, an independent living center situated in Rockland County, New York.

This program is specifically crafted to empower consumers, allowing them to take charge of their own care and oversee their personal assistant.

CDPA represents a paradigm shift, offering a less restrictive level of care as an alternative to the conventional home health care model. Through a strategic partnership with BRIDGES, SAIL is committed to delivering both technical and practical support to individuals living with disabilities or chronic conditions, empowering them to tailor their care based on their unique plans.

In this innovative approach, each individual assumes the role of the employer for their personal assistant. The program is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for individuals with disabilities and older adults who require personal assistance at home.

By Christine Graf

PA Medical Supply of Queensbury has opened a second location in the Wilton Mall next to JC Penney. Both stores carry an extensive selection of home medical equipment and soft good orthotics, boasting the largest showrooms and most extensive product selections in the area.

Established in 1995, PA Medical Supply was purchased by Lake George native Michael Gipson in July 2022. Prior to purchasing the business from John Bisceglia, Gipson spent more than a decade working in medical equipment sales.  

“I have been in the durable medical equipment industry for about 12 years,” he said. “I started out on the manufacturer side, selling throughout New York state. I worked for one of the largest durable medical equipment manufacturers in the world.” 

After working his way up to regional manager for the Northeast, Gipson was promoted to vice president of sales for the company’s pediatric rehab division, a job that required extensive travel. 

“I  was traveling all over the country almost weekly, and my kids were getting to the age where school and sports were starting. I wanted to be able to stay closer to home,” he said. “I always knew I wanted to own my own business one day, and it got to the point where it was time to make a change.”

Over 20 environmental organizations and sustainably oriented businesses exhibited at the year’s Glens Falls Earth Day celebration, sponsored by Sustainable PR, the City of Glens Falls and the Crandall Public Library. 

They brought with them interactive learning activities that were engaging for all ages, and the variety captured the interest of over 100 community members, organizers said.

“Our Earth Day planning team has received nothing but praise for this year’s lineup,” said Tony DeFazio of Sustainable PR.  “We wanted to expand our reach this year and incorporate more family-friendly exhibits to broaden our audience and that’s what we did.”

In addition to eco-conscious exhibitors, the event marked the grand opening of the city’s vertical farm. Dr. Jeff Flagg, the city’s economic development director, gave tours of the facility to more than 50 people, including representatives from Saga City, Glens Falls’ sister city in Japan.