Guthrie Ambulatory Health Care Clinic marks expansion

FORT DRUM — The Guthrie Ambulatory Health Care Clinic celebrated the grand opening of its 49,500-square-foot expansion Friday.

Hundreds of people had an opportunity to tour the addition to the clinic, which includes larger space for physical and occupational therapy, a pharmacy, a patient services center and additional primary care facilities. Construction of the building began about two years ago, and the new wing began caring for patients about two weeks ago.

Col. Mark W. Thompson, Army Medical Department Activity commander, said the expansion will help improve the way care is administered through a new concept of caregiving.

“The Army Medical Home is a concept where over the next two to three years, we will be transforming the way we deliver care throughout the entire Army medical system,” he said. “This concept focuses on the patient being the center of the health care team and the driver of care rather than a passive recipient. Implementation of the Army Medical Home takes people, a health care team firing on all cylinders to ensure patient needs are met and patients who are fully committed to being active contributors to their own health care. It also needs a space to make that magic happen and this expansion gives us just that space.”

The entire clinic is about 100,000 square feet. With the expansion, state-of-the-art physical therapy equipment, office space and private care rooms have been added.

Lt. Col. Christian J. Meko, deputy commander for clinical services, also is a doctor at the Guthrie Clinic. He said there are several parts of the expansion about which he is excited.

“The best part of the expansion is, really, we expanded the amount of space we have available for patient care,” he said. “Each of the providers have multiple rooms to work out of, and it allowed us to implement a team approach to care. The other really cool thing about the place — the physical therapy space quadrupled in size and allowed us to bring in some state-of-the-art equipment, which will be absolutely vital for helping our soldiers get back into the fight sooner.”

Those who work at the clinic said they are pleased with the results.

Mickie L. Palmer, head nurse for Guthrie Primary Care, said she is most excited about having more space for patients.

“They’re not stuffed into a smaller area,”she said. “We are able to help facilitate access to care more efficiently. It has helped to raise morale among staff as well. We were able to combine with pediatrics, which gave us an excellent team to add to our belt. The patients, I know, have commented on a lot more of a positive aspect. It mattered to them that the facility was new as well.”

The clinic, named after Dr. Samuel B. Guthrie, who served as a physician and surgeon during the battles of Sackets Harbor and Niagara Falls from 1812 to 1817, opened in 1991.