Plans for medical facility underway
Site near Exit 17 tapped for project
“Hudson Headwaters Health Partners is a safety net healthcare provider. Its health centers are open to everyone, regardless of income or insurance, and are essential to the medical needs of the communities it serves.” — Raymond F. O’Conor, Resource Corporation chairman
MOREAU, N.Y. » Plans are in the works for a new $10.7 million, 25,000-square-foot healthcare facility employing 42 people near Exit 17 in Moreau.
The Hudson Headwaters Health Partners center would be five times the size an existing facility, about a mile north, also on Route 9.
The project, which still requires town Planning Board approval, would include about 16,000 square feet of healthcare space, 6,084-square feet for lab and radiology services, and a 2,500-square foot pharmacy.
“We’re hoping to be in the ground late spring and be open by this time next year,” said Christopher Tournier, Hudson Headwaters chief executive officer. “We have no additional capacity at our current location, but there is demand.”
The project would be known as Moreau Family Health.
The existing facility handled about 15,000 patient visits last year. When fully operational, the new site is expected to have from 25,000 to almost 30,000 visits annually.
The structure will be located on five acres adjacent to the north side of a Dunkin’ Donuts store at the corner of Route 9 and Spier Falls Road.
Hudson Headwaters has applied to Saratoga County Capital Resource Corp. for up to $7.7 million worth of tax-exempt, low-interest bonds for the project. The rest would be self-funded by Hudson Headwaters, which has $3.5 million in cash available.
“Hudson Headwaters Health Partners is a safety net healthcare provider,” said Raymond F. O’Conor, Resource Corporation chairman. “Its health centers are open to everyone, regardless of income or insurance, and are essential to the medical needs of the communities it serves.”
The Resource Corporation is a not-for-profit community development organization created by the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors in 2012. Its primary role is acting as a conduit for tax-exempt bond financing for not-for-profit organizations.
Corporation funding comes from investors or institutions that purchase the bonds.
Hudson Headwater is partnering on the new medical facility with Glens Falls Hospital, which will provide lab and radiology services.
“We both knew Moreau was a high-need area and could use additional services,” said Tracy Mills, hospital vice president for planning. “It’s a great way to join forces. It gives the hospital another access point for our area in another location.”
The hospital and Hudson Headwaters already partner at a couple of other locations including War-
rensburg, where hospital specialists work at a Hudson Headwaters facility.
The new building’s clinical space is designed around two pods of nine exam rooms each, plus support space. Each pod has shared staff space to encourage the team concept.
Moreau Supervisor Todd Kusnierz said, “Easy access to health care can be a huge challenge in many parts of the state and we are very fortunate here in Moreau to have such services. This project will not only increase that access by expanding Hudson Headwaters services in the town more than five-fold, but from a commercial development standpoint, it will be the first piece in the puzzle that will provide a draw for other professional services that may want to locate in our commercial corridor.”
The existing Moreau facility has 34 full- and parttime employees. Within two years after opening, the new center is expected to have 42 employees including providers -- doctors, behavioral health specialists, nurse practitioners and physicians assistants.
Salaries are expected to range from $35,000 to $250,000 per year, with an estimated average of $83,000 annually for newlycreated jobs.
Construction is expected to provide 130 jobs, too.
Hudson Headwaters is a federally-qualified health center whose 17 locations from Moreau to the Canadian border handled 400,000 visits for approximately 100,00 people last year.