HEALTH CARE FOR ALL
NoVo-funded facility will serve patients regardless of insurance or ability to pay
KINGSTON, N.Y. >> Construction has begun on Pine Street in Midtown of a new community health center funded mostly by the NoVo Foundation, a philanthropic organization partly controlled by Peter Buffet, son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday, June 28, at the future site of the Pine Street Family Health Center at 140 Pine St. in Midtown. The center, to be operated by the Institute for Family Health, is being built on the vacant lot where the Pine Street Pediatrics building used to stand.
The new health center is expected to serve 8,000 to 10,000 patients of all ages per year, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay, its creators say.
Dr. Neil Calman, co-founder, president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Family Health, said community health
centers have played an important role in bringing accessible health care and physician training to the Kingston area for decades.
Several speakers at the groundbreaking ceremony acknowledged the role of the Mid-Hudson Family Health Institute, led by Dr. David Mesches, in establishing a strong foundation for primary health care services and training in the region.
The Institute for Family Health and Mid-Hudson Family Health Institute merged in 2007. The Institute for Family Health says that, since then, it has expanded access to health care in the region through the development of community health programs and by increasing the number of family medicine residents trained through the Kingston-based Mid-Hudson Family Medicine Residency program.
Calman lauded Peter Buffett and NoVo for their help in creating the new center on Pine Street.
“Through the generosity of Peter Buffett and the NoVo Foundation, we’ve been able to redesign and completely rebuild the building,” Calhan said in a statement. “It will represent how we integrate behavioral health into primary care ... and will be connected to the community.”
According to NoVo’s 2018 tax returns, the foundation donated $6.4 million to the Pine Street effort. The total cost of the project is estimated to be $8 million.
NoVo, controlled by Peter Buffett and his wife Jennifer, who live in the town of Marbletown, gave more than $116 million between 2017 and 2019 to area nonprofit organizations, activist groups, school districts, a holistic healing center, health care facilities, farm programs, food pantries and governments.
State Sen. Michelle Hinchey, D-Saugerties, said that the new health center in Kingston will make a difference.
“To see this (the Pine Street location) revitalized into something that is going to be so profoundly important and impactful in our community is really special,” Hinchey said in a statement. “We all know that access to good, quality, affordable care is one of the most important things in a community.”
State Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, D-Kingston, commended the founders of the Mid-Hudson Family Health Institute, Mesches and Dr. Norman Burg, for their vision and commitment, and he praised the Institute for Family Health as an organization “that will continue to provide care to a sector of our society that has such need.”
Kingston Mayor Steve Noble echoed that sentiment. “We know that a vibrant and healthy community requires a vibrant and healthy health care system,” Noble said. “The fact that the mayor’s son and an undocumented immigrant can have the same access to care, with no questions asked, is exactly what health care should be.”
The Pine Street Family Health Center will offer primary medical care, preventive care, vaccinations, screenings, women’s and men’s health services, care for chronic illnesses, and behavioral health care.