Beacon medical office offers walk-in care

By Maeleeke J. Lavan
Poughkeepsie Journal

BEACON -- Despite the recent closing of the Beacon Medical Walk-In Center, residents can still get non-emergency care in their community.

Beacon Medical Associates, an internal medicine office located on Henry Street, has extended its office hours and begun to shift staff schedules to fill the need for walk-in service.

''Accessibility is one of our main goals,'' said Kevin Ronk, administrator for Beacon Medical Associates.

The Beacon Medical Walk-In Center, operated by St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, was forced to close its offices in August after losing about $250,000 over a two-year period.

St. Francis officials cited a shortage of patients and problems with reimbursements from HMOs as reasons for closing.

Now Beacon Medical Associates will accommodate some of the lost services, such as after-hours and non-emergency care. The office has five physicians -- one of whom is female -- three medical assistants and one licensed practical nurse.

The services have only been available for about a month, but advertising and word of mouth have helped get the word out that there's a new place in the city to go for medical care.

Fliers handed out

Most recently, fliers with the hours of operation were handed out to residents during Spirit of Beacon Day.

''Patients are trickling in,'' operations manager Gloria Farre said.

The new center will provide services similar to those that were offered at the Beacon Medical Walk-In Center. Minor emergencies including the need for suturing, flu outbreaks and sprained ankles all can be taken care of at the center. Some lab services are also provided.

Brother Efrain Sosa, infirmary administrator at the St. Lawrence Friary in Beacon, said the city desperately needs emergency services.

''Whenever we have an emergency we have to call the ambulance and have to go all the way to Newburgh or Poughkeepsie,'' he said, ''and sometimes minutes count.''

Sosa, who recently took a friar to the new center for blood work, said it's good to hear there is a place to go for less serious situations.

Besides extended hours, the center has services that enable patients to make appointments or get medical advice around the clock.

Patients may call any time of day to make medical appointments or inquire about symptoms.

''We have live people answering the phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week,'' Farre said. ''We also have providers on-call after office hours. If a patient has an issue at 9 o'clock at night, they call and get a live person to take their concern.''

A provider will then be notified of the patient's condition and call the patient back to advise them on how serious the situation is.

''They don't have to wait for the office to open,'' Farre said. ''I think everyone agrees that it's important to be able to accommodate the patients.''

AT A GLANCE
WALK-IN CENTER
Office hours for the Walk-In Center provided by Beacon Medical Associates are: Monday and Friday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For information, anyone interested in touring the facilities can call (845) 831-0470.