Lake Placid ER moves to new facility

LAKE PLACID | Adirondack Medical Center's Lake Placid Emergency Department officially opened last Tuesday in its new digs at the Adirondack Health Medical Fitness Center, Uihlein Campus. The emergency care update for Lake Placid and surrounding communities comes after nearly five years of fiscal and strategic planning, fundraising and about a year-and-a-half of construction for a new building. The $20 million new medical and fitness center is situated at 203 Old Military Road, across the road from the Olympic Training Center and beside Elderwood of Uilhein, the long-term senior care home formerly owned by Adirondack Health. In addition to emergency care, the new facility was designed to provide rehabilitative and fitness services, including a swimming pool with public membership options, offices for sports medicine doctors and radiologic facilities. 'NO SERVICE INTERRUPTIONS' Adirondack Health is opening its strategic blend of medical and fitness components in stages. And the new Lake Placid ER is open. "The transition went according to plan, thanks to the hard work of many, many Adirondack Health employees," health consortium spokesman Matt Scollin told The Sun. "At 11 p.m. on Monday night, Adirondack Health's Lake Placid emergency department closed as regularly scheduled. Work began immediately, and continued through the night, to physically move the department to its new, permanent Lake Placid location. "At 8 a.m. Tuesday morning, Adirondack Health's Lake Placid emergency department opened in the new location, as regularly scheduled. Despite the condensed timeline and -15° F air temperatures, no service interruptions occurred," Scollin said. The move is permanent, he said, directing people with ER needs to the new site. "All subsequent Lake Placid emergency care will be rendered in the new Adirondack Health location at 203 Old Military Road." Dental offices will move from the former Placid Memorial Hospital building to vacant dental office rooms at the Outpost Plaza, near Price Chopper. FORMER SITE Once cleared, Lake Placid's hospital building, which opened in 1951, will revert to Town of North Elba ownership, a provision made when the hospital merged with the General Hospital of Saranac Lake (now Hodson Hall at North Country Community College) to form Adirondack Medical Center 30 years ago. The town has considered conveyance of the eight-acre property to the Olympic Regional Development Authority for development as a sports complex, according to reports in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise. ORDA has not formally announced a plan to buy and repurpose the site. FINAL STEPS Meanwhile, Adirondack Health's Medical Fitness Center has a few final steps for completion. "Adirondack Health is working with the Adirondack Park Agency to permit and relocate an emergency services radio antenna from the top of the former emergency department location (29 Church St.) to the new building," Scollin said. "In the meantime, a wireless radio relay will ensure radio communication channels and medical control are maintained." There is also no helicopter pad at the new Med/Fit facility. "Medical air transports will take off and land at Lake Placid Airport, with ground ambulance transport to and from the facility – a distance of approximately 1.1 miles," Scollin said. MEMBERSHIP SERVICES Adirondack Health's Lake Placid Emergency Department is open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week. The ER maintains 24-hour operations during major Lake Placid events and other incidents, as needed. The Med/Fit Center also officially opened its membership services, including pool access, last week. Adirondack Health announced that members have access to "an expansive fitness floor, top-of-the-line cardio equipment with Bluetooth audio connectivity, strength training equipment and a three-lane lap pool. Beyond self-guided workouts, (Adirondack Health) will provide diverse programming including group cardio classes, aquatic classes, private fitness coaching, athletic training and medically integrated programming." Find out more about the new fitness center at ahmedicalfitness.org.

Signup for our newsletter

Lake Placid ER moves to new facility

COMPANY

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

SUBMISSION FORMS

BEYOND THE NEWS