Patrice McMahon, vice president of Primary and Specialty Care at Nathan Littauer Hospital (NLH) points out that if a region is going to grow, it needs good schools, decent housing, job opportunities, and great healthcare. Fulton County has them all, and NLH has been the cornerstone of healthcare in the region since 1894.
With 12 primary/specialty care clinics throughout the region, residents have access to not only primary and urgent care, but a long list of medical subspecialties as well.
Over the past quarter century, the NLH has been partnering with local municipalities to expand medical services beyond the borders of its main campus in Gloversville in order to serve residents right in the communities where they live. Most recently, that has taken the form of a new care center in Caroga Lake and an additional outpatient facility in Amsterdam that NLH runs in partnership with Albany Medical Center.
Working with municipalities is critical in providing convenient, and quick access to medical care. For example, McMahon notes that the Speculator center, opened at the request of the village, can provide patients with lifesaving care within the “golden hour,” that time right after a traumatic injury or other medical emergency, when receiving care could mean the difference between life and death.
To meet weekend needs, NLH instituted “Quick N Sick” in 2019, where people can obtain appointments or simply walk in to receive medical care on the weekends at its Gloversville center.
To coordinate patients’ care, NLH made the largest single investment in the history of the hospital when it upgraded its electronic medical records system in 2021. No matter where in the NLH system a patient receives care, whether at a primary care center, specialty center, the emergency department or the hospital, the medical record is available. “All providers attached to the network are all working together using the same record,” McMahon said.
The healthcare system also distinguished itself when it established its COVID Recovery Program, one of the few in the country to treat patients with long-COVID.
NLH’s President and CEO Sean Fadale, who came to the hospital in October 2020 at the height of the pandemic, discovered that NLH “was an amazingly well-positioned organization to manage through the challenges of the pandemic.” Now, it continues to treat COVID patients as well as to re-engage area residents in their healthcare after the period of isolation caused by the pandemic.
In addition to medical care within communities throughout the county, NLH patients have access to 13 medical subspecialties. “We are an integrated delivery system that has a full continuum of care from emergency room and urgent care opportunities to inpatient care to outpatient care with primary and specialty care located throughout the region,” Fadale said. “If we need to send people to a higher level of care, we have the relationships in order to be able to do so, and we continue to build those every day.”
MEETING THE NEEDS OF EMPLOYERS
As one of the largest employers in the region with close to 1,000 employees, NLH partners with other local employers to meet their specific needs. Through the Littauer Occupational Alliance, NLH partners with local businesses to keep their workers healthy, providing medical exams, alcohol and drug screenings, TB and hepatitis testing, hearing tests, vaccinations, rehabilitation and other services, all with an eye towards being cost-competitive. Participation in this program helps businesses obtain good liability insurance, McMahon said.
NLH is fully prepared to meet the healthcare needs of residents and employers in Fulton and nearby Montgomery Counties, from prenatal to end-of-life care, a service provided at its 84-bed skilled nursing home. “The pandemic has shone a very bright light on the importance of hospitals in our communities,” Fadale said.
For more information, visit https://www.nlh.org/
No matter what the reason…
Fulton County has a beauty all its own. making it your ideal destination to call home.
All Rights Reserved. Website by