Category Archives: Health & Fitness

Two Albany Med Health System facilities—Saratoga Hospital and Glens Falls Hospital—have earned high grades for patient safety from The Leapfrog Group for fall 2022.  

The two hospitals lead the Capital Region, with grades of A for Saratoga Hospital and B for Glens Falls Hospital. These high marks place both hospitals in the top 25 percent of New York state facilities for this report. 

The Leapfrog Group is a nonprofit watchdog organization that serves as a voice for health care consumers and purchasers, using their collective influence to foster positive change in U.S. health care.

“Our Leapfrog score reflects our culture of safety and 24/7 commitment to protecting patients from preventable harm and errors,” Saratoga Hospital President and CEO Jill J. VanKuren said. “The A grade is a tribute to our team and a source of assurance to our patients, who can be confident they’re receiving care at one of New York’s safest hospitals.” 

By Jill Nagy

For people unable to go to Grounded on Glen, Kayla Kraft’s meditation studio, the studio can come to you. Kraft has transformed a former school bus into a movable meditation studio.

The bus was completely gutted from top to bottom, Kraft said. It now has vinyl planking on the floor and mock subway tile on the walls. It is outfitted with lights, heat, generator power, and diffusers. It can accommodate up to six participants at a time.

The bus is parked behind Grounded on Glen, the non-mobile studio at 282 Glen St. in Glens Falls, “all set up and ready for you to come on the bus,” Kraft said. 

“We go wherever,” she said, with a focus on school systems, health care facilities, and first responders. The aim is to promote relaxation through meditation, yoga, and similar modalities.

“We just launched in September,” Kraft said, “and we got really busy.”

By Jill Nagy

Behavioral Health Services North has solidified its presence in Queensbury by purchasing the building it had been occupying as a tenant. 

The organization, based in Plattsburgh, took over the mental health and substance treatment services previously provided by Glens Falls Hospital.

Behavioral Services North became a sub-tenant in the offices the hospital had been renting. On July 30, they closed on the purchase of the 36,000-square-foot office building at 25 Willowbrook Road from developer Rich Schermerhorn. The purchase price was $2.85 million.

“We’re really excited to be in Washington and Warren counties to serve a population in need of services,” said David LePage, chief financial officer of Behavioral Sciences. 

Currently, they are serving approximately 1,400 clients in Washington and Warren counties and they have waiting lists for both mental health and substance abuse care, he added.  The COVID pandemic has “only made it worse,” increasing the need for services.

By Christine Graf
According to national data, doctors in the United States logged more than 1 billion virtual telemedicine appointments during 2020. Its usage peaked in April at which time 69 percent of all patient visits were virtual.
At Glens Falls Hospital, no telemedicine system was in place when the COVID-19 pandemic began. As a result, administrators had to scramble to get a system in place.
“This was all new to all of us,” said Patti Hammond, vice president for physician practice management. “One of the reasons was that the insurance companies including Medicare were not paying for virtual visits as though it was an in-person visit. Because of COVID, there were some emergency approvals, and the insurance companies said they would pay for that visit just as though the patient was in your office setting.”
In a matter of 48 hours, Glens Falls Hospital had a telemedicine system up and running. The hospital uses the Doxy.me platform and pays a monthly fee for each provider who uses the tool.
“Because we are a health care organization, we had to have a system that was HIPPA compliant. You can’t just do a Zoom call,” said Hammond.
Saratoga Hospital Medical Group, a group of more than 250 providers practicing out of 20-plus locations, implemented a telemedicine platform in the spring of 2019.

By Maria Savino
Tis’ the season for health and wellness resolutions. While there is no shortage of diet plans and exercise regimes to follow in a New Year, I believe the most important aspect to achieve any health goal is the mindset you have going into it.
Many wellness resolutions are created from a place of lack and restriction.
For example: “I am going to cut out processed foods,” “I’m going to give up soda” or “I am going to stop sitting all day.”
Although these goals have positive intentions, the mindset behind them is not setting anyone up for success.
As a health coach, I instruct clients to set wellness goals from the mindset of positivity and addition, rather than restriction and subtraction. This mindset shift is a key component of their long term success for two reasons.
The first reason pertains to how we are naturally wired. As human beings, it never feels good when things are taken away or restricted, especially if those things have given you a sense of comfort or happiness in the past. For example, overeating can be a form of comfort, binge watching hours of television can provide stress relief, or grabbing that afternoon chocolate bar can promote a sense of joy during an otherwise dull or stressful day.

By Jill Nagy
“We’re breathing in a lot of stuff in the air that we cannot see,” said Patrick Schmidt, vice president of sales at Air Pro Solutions, a new business selling, installing and servicing air filtration systems.
When he and other member of his sales staff visit a potential customer, they bring along an air quality meter that can measure that “stuff in the air” and then show it disappearing as one of the company’s Air Box filters goes to work.
Air Pro, located at 229 Washington St. in Saratoga Springs, services an area including Saratoga and Albany counties, the Glens Falls area and the North Country. They are independent dealers for Air Box units manufactured in the Carolinas. Currently, the company employs three sales people and two service people.

Glens Falls Hospital received its first shipment of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine before Christmas and began vaccinating employees based on the CDC and state Department of Health guidelines.
The first person to receive the vaccine at the hospital was Stephanie Kelly, lab lead, microbiology.
“It was great, I did not feel a thing, less than what I feel with the flu shot usually,” she said. “I would recommend everyone getting this vaccination. It is important. We are so lucky and I am happy to have it.”
Some of the doses received were earmarked for EMS and other first responders. The hospital worked directly with these first responder teams to get members vaccinated.

Saratoga Hospital has added space and services at the former Adirondack Urgent Care center, which is now known as Saratoga Hospital Urgent Care – Adirondack, located on Route 9, just north of Walmart, in the Mount Royal Plaza.
Officials said patients have easy access to urgent care—no appointment necessary—from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. Walk-in X-ray and laboratory services are also available seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for X-rays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for lab draws.
A prescription is required for lab and X-ray services.