SVHC President Thomas Dee sees the Pownal campus as a prototype for future centers and as something that can be expanded.
POWNAL, Vt. — Southwestern Vermont Medical Center's Pownal campus opened up just a year ago to fill a need for medical care in the area and a model for the future of primary care.
Since then, some 4,600 patients have come through doors, a third of them from Massachusetts to the south.
"We knew that Pownal was an underserved area and having primary-care health center was critical," said Thomas Dee, president and CEO of Southwestern Vermont Health Care. "We're looking to have a number of these centers throughout out our coverage area. This is the first one that was built from the ground up."
The center's development became more critical as North Adams (Mass.) Regional Hospital closed in 2014 during its planning and several primary care physicians left the area widening an already existing gap. "It's not solving it, but it's helping to address it," Dee said.
His comments were made Saturday at a open house and celebration of the first-year anniversary of the care center. The parking lot was full and patients and residents toured the 5,000-square-foot facility. There was a spread featuring seasonal and local foods and center employees were on hand to greet people and explain elements of the building.
The Pownal office has eight examination rooms, two consult rooms, an X-ray and the capability to do blood draws that can be couriered to Bennington for analysis. It currently has about 10 employees, including three physicians, and will be adding a nurse practitioner in March.
A diabetes and a pharmacy consultant also have hours at the center and it has the capability for telemedicine consultations with specialists at SVMC affiliate Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H.
"I'd like to move toward having a model of an express care type service that could be added here that allows patients to come without an appointment to be seen by a clinician," Dee said. "This is a model, something that can be expanded on. We built it for expansion. ...
"This is a medical home, an environment that's very home-like."
It was constructed last year, near the Massachusetts border, as part of plan to develop community centers in the Southwestern Vermont Health Care. There is one Manchester and another in Wilmington; an express care facility has also been added to the SVMC campus in Bennington.
In a letter of congratulations, state Rep. Bill Botzow, D-Pownal, said the Pownal campus was a big step in getting the health care system closer to the people it serves.
"It was obvious to me that an obstacle to my constituents was the lack of nearby health care," he said, in the letter read by Leslie Keefe, vice president of corporate development. "The SVMC campus helps remedy that problem."
The dedication ceremony recognized some of the partners and the major donors and funds granting organizations that supported the project, including a Building Communities Grant from the state Department of Buildings and General Services and the Webster Foundation. Also given thanks were Leslie and Richard Morgenthal for their donations, which included the lobby area.
"In an era when heath care is often mentioned but seldom supported this joint effort has certainly upgraded our region significantly," said Richard Morgenthal, adding that the need for health care was not a political issue. "Southern Vermont Medical and Dartmouth-Hitchcock certainly put their money where their mouth is — they provided this amazing model of a satellite for the state of Vermont, Massachusetts and New York to contemplate."
But more, they didn't just put up a "sterile white box," instead, "they wanted to provide medical care, medical emotional care, they wanted something that was welcoming, warm and soothing to the people in their times of need."
Morgenthal saw it as a step forward in helping integrate Pownal into the cultural corridor being developed from North Adams to Williamstown, Mass., to Bennington.
"The potential impact of their presence here cannot be underestimated," he said. "This facility shows promise and faith in our community that has certainly been waning in recent years. As the gateway to Vermont, this development elevates Pownal's profile and hopefully become the water mark for any development here in the future."
Practice Manager Amy Andrews said patients have appreciated the center and its beautiful appearance.
"It just makes the patients feel more welcome," she said. "When you come to a place like this, you feel more valued as a person or a patient."
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