Patricia Mackey (Good Shepherd Communities COO), Kathy Connerton (Ascension Lourdes President and CEO), Gabriella Skillen (Chase Memorial Nursing Home and Rehab Executive Director), and Terry Potter (New Berlin Mayor) cut the ribbon to the new Ascension Lourdes medical office on 12 School St. in New Berlin. (Photo by Shawn Magrath)

NEW BERLIN – A new medical center was revealed to the New Berlin community Tuesday, giving hope to community members who face access and transportation barriers that have stopped them from getting continued health care.

Ascension Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton, in collaboration with Chase Memorial Nursing Home and Rehab (a member of Good Shepherd Communities) will open Lourdes Medical Group on July 13. Its primary care office, located at 12 School Street, will be available to residents of Chase Nursing Home and the New Berlin area.

Ascension Lourdes executives joined Chase Memorial, Good Shepherd Communities, and representatives of the Village of New Berlin for a ribbon cutting on Tuesday.

“Today is really the culmination of working a year and half together with Chase Memorial Nursing Home, who’s a member of Good Shepherd Communities, to bring this to life,” said Ascension Lourdes President and CEO Kathy Connerton. “Primary care is essential, and essential to every community.”

The new clinic is the product of a nearly 18-month-long endeavor that started by securing grant funds from New York State’s Health Care Facility Transformation Program, an effort aimed at strengthening and protecting access to essential healthcare services by creation of lasting partnerships.

The New Berlin practice will offer primary care services, point of care testing, and healthcare resources to the area by means of in-person and virtual visits with doctors and nurse practitioners. It will also have mobile services for dental, mammography, and primary care mobile vans.

The practice has a goal of offering specialty care services, such as podiatry and endocrinology, on a rotating basis.

“I was thinking back to the last time we’ve had any kind of health care services, and it’s going back many many years. And it’s been a void,” said New Berlin Mayor Terry Potter. “Especially in these challenging times, health care is most needed. It’s not clear what the new normal is going to be, but we’re thankful that (Ascension Lourdes) is here in the community.”

“Good Shepherd and Lourdes have enjoyed a long history of partnerships among our long term care facilities, with Lourdes affiliated physicians serving as our medical directors for many years,” said Patricia Mackey, COO for Good Shepherd Communities. “On behalf of Good Shepherd Communities … I would like to say how happy and proud we are to be part of the New Berlin community of Chase Memorial, and now of this much needed clinic.”

“The clinic is a wonderful addition to our facility, staff, and community,” said Gabriella Skillen, executive director at Chase Memorial Nursing Home and Rehab. “We at Chase cannot express our gratitude enough for what the clinic means to us.”

Ascension Lourdes will have offices open from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. For appointments, call 607-352-3590.