THOMPSON, N.Y. -- According to a 2016 report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Sullivan County is one of New York's least healthy counties.
One reason for that is the lack of access to healthcare.
“Many times, patients have to use a taxi cab or some other type of transportation, because we don’t have an extensive amount of public transportation,” said Catskill Regional Medical Center CEO Dr. Gerard Galarneau.
Aiming to change that, the Catskill Regional Medical Group will be opening a new urgent and primary care office in Thompson. On Wednesday, officials broke ground for the new facility at the corner of Concord Road and Route 42, on the property of the new Montreign Resort Casino.
“We have a system that guarantees quality," said Dr. James Oxley of the Greater Hudson Valley Health System Medical Group. "It guarantees affordability and accessibility. It guarantees efficiency and friendliness.”
The new 12,000-square foot facility will be built at a cost of about $10 million. Along with urgent and primary care, the facility will also provide specialty care services like blood drawing stations, CAT scans and X-rays.
“Records available here will instantly be available to doctors at the hospital, preventing costly errors from duplications of rewriting records and saving precious time,” said Darrell Supak of the Greater Hudson Valley Health System Board of Directors.
The new office is expected to create between 30 and 40 new jobs. Built near a bus line, and minutes from Monticello and the future casino, officials say this facility will play a crucial role in the county for years to come.
“It may only be a 12,000-square foot building, but for Sullivan County, it’s the size of the Empire State Building when it comes to healthcare,” Galarneau said.
The facility is expected to be open in June.