Albion site will become urgent care center

Photos by Tom Rivers – Bill Gajewski, administrator for Orleans Community Health in Albion, said the site at the corner of Route 31 and Butts Road is serving community needs and will provide more services as an urgent care site. Beginning the week of June 2, it will be open seven days a week.

ALBION – A healthcare center that opened in November 2012 in Albion will become an urgent care center on June 2 with expanded hours and services.

The Orleans Community Health location will be open seven days a week with later weekday hours. The site at the corner of Butts Road and Route 31 will do non life-threatening care such as X-rays, stitches, lab services for blood and urine, bandages and some other treatments, including care for strep throat and lacerations.

“People will be able to take care of their bee stings and if their kid falls off his skateboard,” said Bill Gajewski, administrator for the Orleans Community Health’s center in Albion.

The urgent care services will ease the demands at hospital emergency departments and provide quicker care for the Albion and eastern Orleans community, Gajewski said.

The center currently has 14 full-time equivalents. It is adding two or three more staff with the shift to urgent care. The urgent care model follows a push from President Obama and the Affordable Care Act to make health care more accessible and less costly, Gajewski said.

“Part of Obamacare is transitioning costs from the emergency departments, which are very expensive,” he said.

Bill Gajewski is pictured in the physical therapy room at the Orleans Community Health in Albion.

He and Orleans Community Health are working on other initiatives to make the Albion center stronger. He would like to see inmates at the Orleans and Albion correctional facilities receive X-rays, physicals and other care from OCH. That would provide a steady source of revenue for the center, and also assist the state Department of Correctional Services by shortening drives for inmate care.

Gajewski also wants to connect with schools and local businesses to have the Albion site be used for employee physicals and drug screenings.

The Albion site could also be federally designated as a rural health clinic, which would boost the Medicaid reimbursement rate by $75 from the current $11 per patient, he said.

Gajewski joined OCH in February. He previously worked as executive director/CEO of St Vincent Medical Group in Erie, Pa., vice president of The Grider Initiative at Erie County Medical Center, and president of WNY Breast Health in Amherst.

“I am very pleased to be part of this dynamic and growing health center,” Gajewski said about leading the Albion site. “We will soon be a designated Urgent Care Center, which will expand the health services available to our community. We will also be expanding Occupational Health Services to provide pre-employment physicals and drug testing for local employers. Discussions are also underway to explore the possibility of adding to our Nurse Practioner staff. I’m looking forward to being a part of this exciting expansion.”