Carthage hospital to break ground on new Community Health Center

CARTHAGE — Carthage Area Hospital will break ground at 11 a.m. today on the new Community Health Center building, 117 N. Mechanic St. Construction will begin in the next few days. It was slated for April, but funding was delayed.

A $500,000 grant from the state Department of Health HEAL NY Phase 6 is being held up in Albany.

Hospital Administrator Walter S. Becker said the money should be here in three to four weeks, as soon as the state comptroller signs the paperwork.

Other funding for the $1 million facility is provided through public and private grants, including a federal grant obtained by Rep. John M. McHugh's office and a Rural Access Development grant through the state Department of Health.

Mr. Becker said the hospital is "shooting for the first part of November" for completion.

He described plans for the building and said it would be "designed to complement the architecture of the business district," with Victorian lighting and a brick facade.

"We will do everything possible to maintain the design and the landscaping to make it complement the existing park," he said.

The 6,000-square-foot, one-story medical center will house obstetric services. Plans originally included pediatrics and family practice outpatient services as well, but an increase in obstetrical and gynecological visits led officials to decide to move only the one practice. Appointments doubled last year to 12,000.

"When we started this project in mid-2007, we expected 6,400 OB-GYN visits," Mr. Becker said. "Now we're hitting 1,000 a month, which totally was a shock to us. We never expected to hit that many. I think the draw is the new inpatient maternity department. We've gotten more providers and more patients out of Fort Drum."