Keep an eye on the hospital parking lot in Cornwall. It’s going to be filling up again.
On Feb. 13, there was a ribbon cutting on the Cornwall campus to celebrate the completion of a dialysis center that will be run by Fresenius Kidney Care. The new facility will employ 25 people and accommodate 200 patients a week. Some of them will be transferring from other units so they can receive treatment closer to home.
The unit will open as soon as the Department of Health gives its OK. Many of the guests on Wednesday night were patients who have received dialysis in other locations. They saw a facility that is bright, cheerful and spacious. Impressed with the size of the room, one of them commented to a staff member, “You’re going to have to start working on roller skates.”
Joan Cusack-McGuirk, the hospital CEO and president, recalled working in this part of the building as a nurse when she first came to Cornwall. She commented on how dialysis has changed over the years — how the machines have become smaller and the treatment time has been reduced.
In addressing the guests, Mrs. Cusack-McGuirk referred to a conversation she had with Town Supervisor Richard Randazzo a few years ago. She assured him that Cornwall would once again be a vital branch of the hospital — even though the Emergency Department was being moved to another location.
In keeping with that prediction, the hospital has other events on its late winter agenda. It will break ground next month on an enhanced emergency room in Newburgh, and it will hold a ribbon cutting to celebrate the many new occupants of the building in Cornwall and their role in maintaining the community’s health.
Dr. Steven Safyer is expected to wield the scissors on that day. The hospital is part of the Montefiore Health System and Dr. Safyer is Montefiore’s CEO.
