Community

Tour PBMC Health’s new Manorville campus

BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | PBMC Health board of directors president Sherry Patterson (center) and donors Jeffrey Feil (representing the Louis and Gertrude Feil Charitable Trust) and John Kanas cutting the ribbon Thursday afternoon.
BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | PBMC Health board of directors president Sherry Patterson (center) and donors Jeffrey Feil (representing the Louis and Gertrude Feil Charitable Trust) and John Kanas cutting the ribbon Thursday afternoon in Manorville.

PBMC Health’s Manorville ambulatory campus is officially open to patients.

The opening was marked by a ribbon cutting ceremony led by hospital officials on Thursday.

Manorville area residents have long lacked access to nearby medical care, having had to travel to Riverhead or Stony Brook in the case of an emergency, PBMC Health officials said.

The much-anticipated center currently offers patients urgent care, primary care, urology, internal medicine and orthopedic care in one building, but the campus will ultimately grow and become a four-building comprehensive healthcare center.

“We want the community to know we are here and ready to care for them,” said Jacqueline Selva, executive director of the Riverhead Management Company.

The urgent care center is designed to handle health issues such as sprains, stitches, sore throats and broken bones, said Ms. Selva said.

It is fitted with 13 exam rooms, a radiology room with a full body x-ray machine, and two procedure rooms.

It is currently open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and once it becomes more established, officials intend to keep the urgent care center open 24 hours, she said.

The campus has been designed for “one-stop medical shop,” Ms. Selva said.

Patients can come not only for urgent care, but can have primary care physicians assume their care moving on. Should patients need a referral to a specialist, the hope is that, once the campus is finished, the patient will just have to walk a few steps away for the specialized care.

“We wanted it to be convenient,” she said. “Where patients are going to want to establish their care.”

Caregivers have already seen the model’s convenience in action, Ms. Selva said, pointing to a recent example in which an urgent care patient who came in complaining of a swelling hand.

“The person had came in with a swollen hand, we sent them down the hall for an x-ray and it turned out to be a broken hand,” Ms. Selva said. “After that the patient was referred to our orthopedist who was also down the hall.”

Many primary care and urgent care facilities are not equipped with radiology and X-ray equipment, she said.

The next building is slated to open about eight months from now, and will house a center for digestive disorders and space for general surgery.

Plans for the other buildings are currently being developed, hospital officials said.

“ [The campus] provides us with an opportunity to offer services well beyond just hospital care,” said Andrew Mitchell, president and CEO of PBMC Health and Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, which falls under the PBMC Health umbrella.

 

“These four buildings will be dedicated to the care of this community,” Mr. Mitchell said.

The completion of the campus was made possible by a $5 million donation from The Louis Feil Charitable Lead Annuity Trust. The center has been named The Gertrude & Louis Feil Campus for Ambulatory Care, in appreciation of the Feil family’s donation.

The Trust has given philanthropic gifts to other health institutions, including South Nassau Hospital in Oceanside.

The new medical center also brings new job opportunities to the area. The center has hired five new employees to fill reception and medical assistant positions. As the patient population grows, they anticipate several other positions opening as well, Ms. Selva said.

Helene Davison, a new employee working both reception and as a medical assistant, said she has 10 years of experience in private practice, and has never worked at such a “high spirited” place.

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