Category Archives: Healthcare

Hudson Headwaters Health Network has launched a new model of patient care at the West Mountain Campus in Queensbury and at  its Moreau Family Health.

Known as team care, the cutting-edge approach is designed to deliver more personalized care for patients and improve work-life balance for health center staff.

Officials said in the team care model, each patient continues to have their primary care provider, but in addition, they are also assigned to a team of providers, nurses and administrative staff.  The entire team gets to know the patient so even if their primary care provider is unavailable, the patient can count on consistent, personalized care during their visit. 

The phone system, check-in and other processes have also been updated to provide a more efficient and streamlined experience.  Core teams are supported by behavioral health providers, care managers, clinical pharmacists and other specially trained staff. The model is designed to put the patient back at the center of their health care, according to Hudson Headwaters

By Susan Elise Campbell

By educating and supporting children, their families, and teachers, Melissa Seale, PMHNP/BC aims to promote mental and emotional wellness for the entire community system around Glens Falls. 

According to Seale, the need for pediatric psychiatry is even greater in the North Country than the nation in general, and she is facing the challenge through her new private practice, Well Child Pediatric Psychiatric Services.

Seale is a board-certified nurse practitioner who said she is “very vested in the mental wellness of the Glens Falls community. I live here, raise my family here, and want to give back.”

The practice is less than two months old and appointments have filled quickly, she said. Many patients followed her from Glens Falls Pediatrics, which she joined after starting her career at the Center for Children and Families, also based in Glens Falls. Well Child is Seale’s first independent practice.

Seale said she knew of one behavioral center in the area with a wait list of 500.

“Pediatric psychiatry is gaining more focus as a discipline,” she said. “The pandemic has been a huge stressor in adults and the effects have trickled down to kids in the form of anxiety and depression.”

Practices are facing a growing litany of issues ranging from toddler tantrums to school shootings, she said. 

“Because of social media and all the news outlets, I see kids inundated with negative information,” said Seale. “Bullying has long existed. But children used to be able to go home and escape it. Not today.”

“Social media disconnects young people from the face-to-face interaction that human beings need,” she said. “Even parents are on the phone more, disconnected from their children.” 

Hudson Headwaters Health Network has established a mobile health program that started in June.

Hudson Headwaters Mobile Health’s newly purchased mobile health center will bring primary care services to Warren and Washington counties, beginning in Salem.

A second mobile health center, anticipated to arrive in 2022, will serve the central and northern Adirondacks, agency officials said.

According to Hudson Headwaters CEO Dr. Tucker Slingerland, mobile health is the network’s latest mission-driven initiative to expand its access to care.

“It is very fitting that, at the beginning of Hudson Headwaters’ 40th year, we move forward with this innovative care delivery model,” he said. “The same high-quality care that communities have come to expect at our health centers is now on wheels.”

The mobile health center is a highly customized, 40-foot RV-like vehicle equipped as a primary care medical office and certified as such by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration. It offers two fully equipped examination rooms, a registration area, point-of-care testing area, a lab draw station and bathroom.

The mobile unit includes the same medical equipment found in a traditional primary care health center, such as examination tables, a scale, equipment to obtain patients’ vital signs and provide vision screening.

It will be staffed by a family nurse practitioner, nurse and a medical assistant.

By Jennifer Farnsworth

CDPHP has opened a new health care facility. Health care agencies have been adding offices in communities through the region in recent years. This one, at 1785 Route 9 in Clifton Park, is a bit different, CDPHP says.

“We truly are reinventing the patient experience within this building,” said Senior Vice President of Business Development Lisa Sasko.

The 40,000-square-foots facility is “vastly different from other locations in our market area,” according to Sasko.  She said the building was designed with wellness in mind for patients, physicians and staff. 

“We pulled elements from the hospitality industry and put a deep focus on customer service and healing.  We intend to delight customers and provide easy access to personalized care, and we want employees and physicians to love coming to work here,” she said.

The building has an open floor plan with natural sunlight, fireplaces with modern furniture as well as a cafe. There is a privacy room for nursing parents, electric vehicle charging stations in the parking lot and a children’s area.

There are currently five specialty practices operating out of the 1785 building including Albany ENT & Allergy Associates, Capital Cardiology Associates, Albany Gastroenterology Consultants, New York Nephrology and Fresenius Kidney Care. 

Additionally, it has ConnectRx, a full-service pharmacy, and a behavioral health practice available through their partner aptihealth, inc. There is also a CDPHP Customer Connect location within the building where patients can enroll in coverage, get answers to benefit questions, or make appointments on-site.

By Susan E. Campbell
Women’s Health, part of the Hudson Headwaters Health Network, reopened its doors following months of interior renovation.
The changes make the center at 90 South St. in Glens Falls “an optimal experience” with more comprehensive services for women and their families, according to practice leader Sally Howard.
“We expanded up and down,” said Howard, who has been with the practice for three years. “The physical expansion of the facility creates an environment where patients and providers feel they will get the best care.”
Hudson Headwaters Health Network has centers from Champlain down to Moreau and west to North Creek. The recently re-named Women’s Health became a part of the network in 2013, said Dr. Ted Denious, who co-leads it with Dr. Danielle Goertzen.

By Jennifer Farnsworth
The North Country expect the Alpine Lodge’s transformation into what new owner Keir Weimer describes as both a smart hotel and a property set up to keep people safe from COVID-19.
The real estate entrepreneur purchased the property at 264 Main St., North Creek, in late May for about $1.2 million.
Weimer, president of Adirondack Hospitality Ventures LLC, said she has worked to transform the 19-room property with top-level voice, streaming and energy-efficient technology as a way to provide guests with a modern, yet still rustic, experience. Weimer said the company is excited to show patrons the changes in technology.
But the top priority is safety. He said they have been working diligently to ensure the safety of their employees and guests in light of the coronavirus pandemic.