Pike Urgent Care Planned for Fall, Mini-Hospital in Five Years
Pike County Commissioners Matt Osterberg and Anthony Waldron outlined plans at a Delaware Valley Action! meeting.
An urgent care facility in Dingmans Ferry, PA, is planned for “late fall,” Pike County Commissioner Anthony Waldron said at the August Delaware Valley Action! meeting at the Waterwheel Cafe in Milford. Northwell Health executives have had several meetings with county commissioners since a Northwell executive vacationing in Wallenpaupack with a medical emergency found that the county lacked urgent care. They already have a sign for Northwell at the Weis Market Plaza in Dingmans Ferry, having asked for an existing building, Waldron said, noting that Northwell also envisions a “mini-hospital” opening in four to five years.
“That starting time for a mini-hospital, at $20-30 million, would be challenging,” said Waldron. “The Dixon City mini-hospital has 24 beds.”
He also mentioned the possibility of a lab and imaging technology and pointed out that the Pike County Correctional Facility has a heliport as well as water and sewer infrastructure.
“The prison has 395 beds and costs $13 million to operate. We’re paying for an empty jail. Let’s get rid of the prison,” said Greg Lotorto. “Why not use it for Northwell? Use it for mental health care and drug rehab.”
“Mental health and drug rehab is centered in Stroudburg,” Pike County Commissioner Chair Matt Osterberg conceded. “We’re trying to expand it with Northwell. Northwell Health is one of the largest private employers in New York State. They see Pike County as an open market.”
Port Jervis has had a hospital since 1852, and Wayne County had one beginning in the 1870’s, but more sparsely populated Pike County is the only county in Pennsylvania without a hospital or urgent care center, a recent topic of discussion between the commissioners and U.S. Senators Bob Casey and John Fetterman and Congressman Matt Cartwright, Waldron said.
He noted that the Pike County hospitality industry has 60,000 employees; the summer population is 180,000; and the percentage of retirees over age 65 is high. Meanwhile, many nurses who live in Pike County drive to Newton to work, while the county’s 13 or 14 ambulances did 6000 transports to medical facilities last year.
The Atlantic Health System urgent care center in Milford that closed in 2019 failed because of the limited insurance they accepted, Osterberg said. The Milford Borough building Atlantic used is being considered for an additional urgent care location.
Waldron said that Northwell is prepared to lose $1 million per year initially on new urgent care facilities. Meanwhile, Pike County Medical Foundation is working on gathering funding for the medical ventures, Osterberg said, without details, noting that the board now includes Jenny Hamill and Bill Rosada, owner of several commercial properties in Milford.
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