NNY Business August 2014

B

Y usIness // ANNUAL HEALTH CARE ISSUE

AUGUST 2014 Volume 4 No. 9

nnybizmag.com

***

THE INTERVIEW

Hudson Headwaters Health Network Executive Director Dr. John Rugge p. 52

CRITICAL CONDITION: $2.95

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THE PUSH TO BUILD A HEALTHIER NORTH COUNTRY WORKFORCE

// NORTHERN NEW YORK’S PREMIER BUSINESS MONTHLY //

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August 2014 | NNY Business

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>> Inside AUGUST 2014

20 26

31

28 |

COVER |

20 WORKPLACE WELLNESS North country employers look for new, innovative ways to improve worker health. |

SMALL BIZ STARTUP |

19 NEW CHILD CARE CHOICE A lack of child care options led one Fort Drum spouse to launch a drop-in day care. |

HEALTH CARE |

25 CARING FOR VETERANS Massena Memorial Hospital’s North Country Veterans Clinic proudly serves all who served.

34 28 BLAZING A NEW PATH North Country Family Health Center turns a fresh corner.

31 CARE WITH DIGNITY Hospice of Jefferson County affirms life for terminally ill.

34 CANCER CENTER GROWS Claxton-Hepburn opens $4.7m treatment wing.

36 EXPANDING SERVICES South Jeff Physical Therapy opens new, larger location.

38 TOP CARE TECHNOLOGY Canon-Potsdam Hospital invests in new cancer tech.

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FAMILY BUSINESS |

42 PASSING THE TORCH Former Stonefence Resort owners train new generation. |

REAL ESTATE |

48 LAND DEAL TOPS $4m A former South Jeff dairy sets record for farmland sale.

51 Q2 REAL ESTATE REPORT Home market posts gains in second quarter sales for year. |

BUSINESS HISTORY |

70 A LEGACY OF CARE Mercy Hospital served region well for more than a century.

August 2014 | NNY Business

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1001 West St. Carthage • 315-493-1000 • www.carthagehospital.com 8 | NNY Business | August 2014

INTERVIEW | 52 GUIDING HEALTH REFORM A conversation with Hudson Headwaters Health Network executive director Dr. John Rugge, co-vice chairman of the state’s North Country Health System Redesign Commission. |

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COLUMNS

58 COMMERCE CORNER DEPARTMENTS

12 13 14 16 19

ABOUT THE COVER

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56 ECONOMICALLY SPEAKING 57 BUSINESS LAW

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59 AGRI-BUSINESS 60 BUSINESS TECH BYTES 61 SMALL BUSINESS SUCCESS

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EDITOR’S NOTE PEOPLE ON THE MOVE ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT BUSINESS BRIEFCASE SMALL BIZ STARTUP

47 60 62 64 70

REAL ESTATE ROUNDUP NEXT MONTH CALENDAR BUSINESS SCENE BUSINESS HISTORY

For this month’s cover photo, Photographer Amanda Morrison styled an illustration in our Watertown studio of a worker at his desk. Our cover story about steps local employers are taking to help build a healthier north country workforce begins on page 20 by writer Norah Machia.

Amanda used a Nikon D700 with a 14-24 mm lens, 100 ISO, f/2.8 at 1/200 second.

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THE LODGE AT IVES HILL 1201 Jewell Drive, Watertown, NY 13601 (315) 779-9590 • IvesHillLodge.com

August 2014 | NNY Business

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CONTRIBUTORS

BusIness www.nnybizmag.com

Chairman of the Board Michelle Capone is regional development director for the Development Authority of the North Country. She writes about the fine art of structuring a good business deal. (p. 56)

Larry Covell is an attorney and professor of business at Jefferson Community College. He explains the rights businesses have in verbal and written contracts. (p. 57)

Lynn Pietroski is president and CEO of the Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce. She explains the chamber’s new Community Health Advocate program. (p. 58)

John B. Johnson Jr.

Publishers

John B. Johnson Harold B. Johnson II

VP News Operations Timothy J. Farkas

Magazine Editor

Kenneth J. Eysaman

Staff Writer / Editorial Assistant Grace E. Johnston

Photography

Jay Matteson is the agricultural coordinator for the Jefferson County Industrial Development Corp. He writes about recent trends in agricultural farmland in the north country. (p. 59)

Jill Van Hoesen is chief information officer for Johnson Newspapers and a 28-year IT veteran. She writes about how health information technology is shaping the future of health care. (p. 60)

Michelle Collins is an advisor for the state Small Business Development Center at SUNY Canton. She offers some creative ways small businesses can market. (p. 61)

Norm Johnston, Justin Sorensen, Jason Hunter, Melanie Kimbler-Lago, Amanda Morrison

Director of Advertising Michael Hanson

Magazine Advertising Manager Matthew Costantino

Advertising Graphics

Brian Mitchell, Rick Gaskin, Heather O’Driscoll, Scott Smith, Todd Soules

Circulation Director Lance M. Evans is executive officer for the Jefferson-Lewis and St. Lawrence County Board of Realtors. He writes about the impact that Fort Drum has on NNY real estate. (p. 47)

Norah Machia is a freelance writer and veteran Watertown Daily Times Reporter. In our cover story, she looks at how employers are helping to develop a healthier workforce. (p. 20)

Grace E. Johnston is a a staff writer and editorial assistant for NNY Magazines. This month, she writes about a young leader in health care management and local hospice care. (pgs. 28, 31)

MARKETPLACE Advanced Business Systems ........... 49 AIB Inc. .............................................. 11 ASAC of Jefferson County ............... 13 Americu Credit Union ......................... 3 Bach & Company ............................. 49 Bay Brokerage .................................. 37 Bayview Shores Realty ..................... 46 Beardsley Design .............................. 72 Bond Schoeneck & King .................. 73 Canton-Potsdam Hospital ................. 4 Carthage Area Hospital ..................... 8 Caskinette’s Lofink Ford ................... 62 Center for Sight ............................ 40-41 Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired ...................... 25 Claxton Hepburn Medical Center .... 24 Clayton Chiropractic ....................... 12 Clayton Dental Office ...................... 67 Coleman’s Corner ............................ 55 Community Bank ................................ 5 Credo Community Center ............... 16 Crouse Hospital ................................ 79 D. Laux Properties ............................. 46 Davita Lowville .................................. 33 DANC ................................................. 58 DL Calarco Funeral Home ............... 63 Dr. J. Richard Meagher .................... 24 Fairground Inn ................................... 55 Family Counseling of NNY ............... 12 Foy Agency Inc. ............................... 11 Fuccillo Automotive ......................... 43 Fuller Insurance ................................ 11

10 | NNY Business | August 2014

Guilfoyle Ambulance ......................... 6 GWNC Chamber of Commerce ..... 75 Hand Therapy of Watertown ............ 32 Haylor Freyer & Coon ................. 11, 39 HD Goodale Co. ............................... 11 High Tower Advisors ......................... 54 Hospice of Jefferson County ........... 17 Howard Orthotics .............................. 56 IHC Schools ......................................... 9 Innovative PT Solutions ..................... 57 Jefferson County EDC ...................... 71 Jefferson-Lewis Board of Realtors .... 46 Jeff-Lewis BOCES ........................ 23, 27 Keegan Associates .......................... 38 Ken Piarulli/Ameriprise ..................... 12 LaClair Family Dental ....................... 29 Lewis County General Hospital ....... 65 Lewis County Hospice ...................... 29 LTI Trucking ........................................ 61 Macar’s .............................................. 66 Marra’s Homecare ........................... 69 Massena Memorial Hospital ............ 30 Massey’s Furniture Barn ................... 16 McCue Dental ................................... 35 Meade Optical ................................. 32 Moe’s Southwest Grill ....................... 55 Nationwide Insurance ...................... 11 NNY Community Foundation ........... 33 North Country Paving ....................... 43 North Country Urgent Care .............. 25 Nortz & Virkler Ford ........................... 43 Nutritional Wellness of Watertown ... 18

Petitto Chiropractic .......................... 60 Phinney’s Automotive ...................... 43 Prudential 1000 Realty ...................... 80 RBC Wealth Management ............... 50 Regional Medical Management .... 17 River Hospital .................................... 37 River Wellness Center ....................... 49 Samaritan Medical Center ................ 2 Schonfield Dental ............................. 78 SeaComm Federal Credit Union ..... 51 Slack Chemical Co. ......................... 59 South Jefferson Physical Therapy .... 78 Stafford Piller Law Firm ...................... 35 STAT Communications ..................... 49 Syracuse Orthopedic ....................... 18 The Blue Heron .................................. 55 The Johnston House ......................... 55 The Lodge at Ives Hill ......................... 9 The Scrub Hub ................................... 30 Thousand Islands Realty .................. 46 Waite Motor Sports ........................... 78 Waite Toyota ..................................... 64 Walldroff Farm Equipment ............... 68 Walmart Vision Center ..................... 73 Washington Summit .................... 44, 45 Watertown Daily Times ..................... 72 Watertown Dental ....................... 76, 77 Watertown LDC ................................. 47 Watertown Savings Bank ................. 22 Watertown Spring & Alignment ....... 43 Wells Communications .................... 71 WWTI-TV50 ......................................... 74

Mary Sawyer

NNY Business (ISSN 2159-6115), is published monthly by Northern New York Newspaper Corp., 260 Washington St., Watertown, NY 13601, a Johnson Newspaper Corp. company. © 2010-2014. All material submitted to NNY Business becomes property of Northern New York Newspaper Corp., publishers of the Watertown Daily Times, and will not be returned.

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Submissions Send all editorial correspondence to keysaman@wdt.net Advertising For advertising rates and information in Jefferson and Lewis counties, email mcostantino@wdt.net, or call 315-661-2305 In St. Lawrence County, e-mail knelson@ogd.com, or call 315-769-2451 Printed with pride in U.S.A. at Vanguard Printing LLC, Ithaca, N.Y., a Forest Stewardship Certified facility.

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August 2014 | NNY Business

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EDITO R’S N O T E

T

his month we are proud to deliver our annual health care issue, our largest edition of the year. At 80 pages, you might want to fire up your coffee pot because you’re in for a long read.

In the pages that follow, you’ll find stories that touch nearly all who live and work in the north country.

While Northern New York hospitals and health centers work through the impact of federal and state reforms, we examine the health of our Ken Eysaman workforce and steps that some employers are taking to improve employee health. From our cover story by writer Norah Machia, which begins on page 20, to a new $4.7 million cancer treatment wing at Ogdensburg’s Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center and additional investments in care across the region, you will learn something new about one of the north country’s most valued sectors of our economy.   

Family Counseling Service of NNY, Inc. Services: Counseling services:

l•Depression Depression/Anxiety / anxiety l•PTSD PTSD

l•Grief Grief andand lossLoss l•Couples Couples l•Family Family

l•Sexual Sexual Abuse Victims abuse victims l•Anger Anger Management management l•Parenting Parenting

Domestic Violence l•Domestic violence

We accept: l•Pomco Pomco

Tricare l•TRICARE

United Healthcare l•United Healthcare Community

Plan

Community Plan We also have a sliding We also afor sliding fee scale feehave scale self-pay. for self-pay.

Located at: St., Suite 510 120 Washington 120 Washington Watertown, NY 13601St., Suite 510 Watertown, NY 13601 (315) 782-4483 315.782.4483 Visit us Web: Visit uson onthe the web: www.fcsnny.org www.fcsnny.org 12 | NNY Business | August 2014

20 QUESTIONS — This month we traveled

to Queensbury, north of Glens Falls on the eastern side of the Adirondacks, where we sat down with Dr. John Rugge, executive director of Hudson Headwaters Health Network, a group of 14 community clinics.

Dr. Rugge has been involved in rural health care for more than 40 years and, for the last several years, he has been on the front line of reform. Last fall, New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Nirav R. Shah announced the creation of the North Country Health System Redesign Commission. Dr. Rugge served as the commission’s co-vice chairman. Without question, his perspective on rural health care and the challenges that

north country institutions face is an interesting one. Our interview with Dr. Rugge begins on page 52.    BUSINESS SCENE — This month’s scene

section, which begins on page 64, features 57 faces from more than three-dozen north country businesses and organization across the tri-county area.

On July 9, we joined the Clayton community to celebrate the grand opening of the 1000 Islands Harbor Hotel, a multimilliondollar destination resort that overlooks the St. Lawrence River on the site of the former Frink snowplow factory.

On July 17, we joined the Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce for its July Business After Hours at Coyote Moon Vineyards in Clayton.

The following week, on July 23, we traveled to Ogdensburg where we joined the St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce for Business Spotlight at the Frederic Remington Museum. On July 24, Lowville Editor Jeremiah Papineau joined the Lewis County Chamber of Commerce for its July Business After Hours at Tug Hill Vineyards in West Lowville.

Finally, on Aug. 7, we joined the Jefferson Rehabilitation Center at the Bruce M. Wright Memorial Conference Center as the organization celebrated its diamond jubilee – 60 years of service in Northern New York.    20 UNDER 40 — It’s hard to believe that

we will soon open nominations for our 4th Annual NNY Business 20 Under 40 program that honors emerging leaders who show promise in their professions and communities. Look for more information in next month’s issue and on our website, nnybizmag.com, where you will find all the requisite details, including a nomination form that you can download.

Your in business,

PEOPLE O N T H E MO V E

Adirondack Health names chief operating officer

Patti Hammond recently joined Adirondack Health as its chief operating officer.

Ms. Hammond has nearly 25 years of leadership experience at hospitals and health systems throughout Albany and the Capital District. As COO, Ms. Hammond is responsible for Adirondack Hammond Health’s physician practices, which include its primary care and specialty care centers.

Since 2007, Ms. Hammond served as vice president of physician services at Ellis Medicine in Schenectady. She holds a bachelor’s in nursing from Keuka College, a master’s in health administration and a master’s in business administration. She is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, and was recognized with the YWCA Woman of Achievement Award in 2010.

JRC announces director OF vocational services

The Jefferson Rehabilitation Center has appointed Deborah A. Vink as director of vocational services and business development.

Ms. Vink was most recently business manager at Belleville-Henderson Central School.

She is a past executive director of North Country Vink Transitional Living Services, Watertown, and chief operating officer and vice president of operations at Samaritan Medical Center.

Ms. Vink holds a license as a certified public accountant and a master’s degree in business administration.

Joins Stackel & Navarra

Mark Hills has joined the accounting firm Stackel & Navarra CPA, P.C., Watertown.

Mr. Hills has more than 21 years’ experience in public accounting, beginning his career at Sovie & Bowie CPA, P.C. before leaving to become the chief financial

Got business milestones? n Share your business milestones with NNY Business. Email news releases and photos (.jpg/300 dpi) to editor Ken Eysaman at keysaman@wdt.net. The deadline for submissions is the 10th of the month for the following month’s issue. Photos that don’t appear in print may be posted on our Facebook page. officer of Carthage Area Hospital and returning to public accounting in 2013.

Mr. Hill’s area of focus is in nonprofit and governmental auditing and business and personal tax return preparation.

New provider at ClaxtonHepburn Medical Center

Dr. Peggy Bastien is Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center’s newest medical provider.

Dr. Bastien is an obstetrician and gynecologist providing care at 3 Lyon Place, Suite 300, Ogdensburg.

She comes from Robert Wood Johnson Hospital, Hamilton, N.J., where she pracBastien ticed since October 2012. She completed residency in obstetrics and gynecology through SUNY Upstate University Hospital, Syracuse, and earned a doctor of medicine from Ross University. She is board eligible and is fluent in French and Creole.

New manager for NBT Malone office

Andrew Knowles has been named manager of NBT Bank’s Malone office.

He was most recently branch manager of NBT Bank’s Canton office. Mr. Knowles has 14 years of retail management experience and majored in business administration at the Royal Knowles Military College in St. Jean sur Richelieu, Quebec. He also earned a commercial brokerage qualification from the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers.

Over 30% 30%ofof Jefferson Co. Jefferson Co. youth, youth, grades grades 6-12, report 6-12,gambled report having having gambled in the past year. in the past year.

(2012 PNA report)

(2012 PNA report) Kids who gamble are ...

3x as likely to get in trouble with the police 50% more likely to drink alcohol 3x more likely to use illegal drugs

What can you do about it?

LISTEN

TALK

LEARN

Visit www.DontBetYet.com to find out more!

Please see People, page 18

August 2014 | NNY Business

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NNY

Economic indicators Average per-gallon milk price paid to N.Y. dairy farmers June 2014 $2.17 May 2014 $2.30 June 2013 $1.83

18.6%

ECON SNAPSHOT

Vehicles crossing the Thousand Islands, OgdensburgPrescott and Seaway International (Massena) bridges

Source: NYS Department of Agriculture

481,219 in June 2014 461,003 in May 2014 461,633 in June 2013

Average NNY price for gallon of regular unleaded gas

Source: T.I. Bridge Authority, Ogdensburg Bridge & Port Authority, Seaway International Bridge Corp.

June 2014 $3.80 May 2014 $3.83 June 2013 $3.66

U.S.-Canadian dollar exchange rate (Canadian dollars per U.S. dollar)

3.8%

Average NNY price for gallon of home heating oil

14 | NNY Business | August 2014

(Percent gains and losses are over 12 months)

June 2014 $3.84 March 2014 $3.87 June 2013 $3.62

6.1%

4.2%

$1.07 on June 30, 2014 $1.09 on May 30, 2014 $1.05 on June 28, 2013

1.9%

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of N.Y.

Average NNY price for gallon of residential propane

Nonagriculture jobs in the Jefferson-Lewis-St. Lawrence counties area, not including military positions

June 2014 $3.14 May 2014 $3.52 June 2013 $2.91

91,300 in June 2014 91,300 in May 2014 90,900 in June 2013

7.9%

0.4%

Source: NYS Energy Research and Development Authority

Source: NYS Department of Labor

Jefferson-Lewis Board of Realtors single-family home sales

St. Lawrence Board of Realtors single-family home sales

114, median price $139,900 in June 2014 90, median price $133,500 in May 2014 120, median price $150,625 in June 2013

55, median price $99,500 in June 2014 44, median price $106,100 in May 2014 57, median price $90,000 in June 2013

5.0% Sales

7.1%

3.5%

Price

Source: Jefferson-Lewis Board of Realtors Inc.

10.6%

Sales

Price

Source: St. Lawrence Board of Realtors Inc.

NNY unemployment rates Jefferson County

7.1%

June ’14

7.5%

May ’14 June ’13

9.1%

St. Lawrence County June ’14

7.8%

May ’14 June ’13

7.4%

9.8%

Lewis County June ’14

7.0% 8.7%

May ’14 June ’13

9.1%

Source: New York State Department of Labor (Not seasonally adjusted. Latest available data reported.) ** Latest available data reported due to annual data updates at the New York State Department of Labor.

Note: Due to updates in some “Econ. Snapshot” categories, numbers may differ from previously published prior month and year figures.

Economic indicators New automobiles (cars and trucks) registered in Jefferson County

Trucks 113 in June 2014 92 in May 2014 167 in June 2013

Cars 615 in June 2014 436 in May 2014 551 in June 2013

11.6%

NNY

32.3%

Source: Jefferson County Clerk’s Office

Passengers at Watertown International Airport

Open welfare cases in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties

3,270 inbound and outbound in June 2014 3,408 inbound and outbound in May 2014 3,303 inbound and outbound in June 2013

2,322 in June 2014 2,250 in May 2014 2,007 in June 2013

15.7%

1.0% Source: Jefferson County Board of Legislators

DBA (doing business under an assumed name) certificates filed at the Jefferson County Clerk’s office July 1 to July 31, 2014. For a complete list of DBAs filed in May and in past months, visit WWW.NNYBIZMAG.COM.

July 31: KLS Pilot Car, 616 Franklin St., Watertown, Kenyatta L. Scott, 616 Franklin St., Watertown.

July 11: Butterfly Gardens, 220 Lorraine St., Mannsville, Lenore K. Scheppard, 220 Lorraine St., Mannsville.

July 29: Blumberg Excelsior Corp., Christ Anglican Church, 235 Spring St., Carthage.

You Buy I Fly, 329 Broadway Ave. West, Watertown, Jenna L. Johnson, 329 Broadway Ave. West, Watertown.

July 28: Edward Blackford Memorial Scholarship, 17526 Doxtater St., Adams, Janet Ann Blackford, 17526 Doxtater St., Adams.

Tequila Sunrise Farm, 11741 Lyons Corners Road, Adams Center, John A. Case, 11741 Lyons Corners Road, Adams Center.

Paris Construction, 1501 State St., Watertown, Cameron Scott Paris, 1501 State St., Watertown.

July 10: Anderson Electric and Construction, 12304 Road 472, Dexter, Nicholas R. Anderson, 25047 Mullin Road, Dexter, Richard E. and Lisa G. Anderson, 12034 Road 472, Dexter.

Cater 2 U Events & Planning, 6242A Scotch Pine Drive, Fort Drum, Gretchen D. Simpkins, 6242A Scotch Pine Drive, Fort Drum.

Davis & Sons Construction, 903 Cronk Road, Watertown, Jim H., Cynthia E., Jonathan M., Luke C., and Mark H. Davis, 903 Cronk Road, Watertown.

Uncle Chris’s Contracting, 115 E. Iroquois Ave., Watertown, Kevin Michael Kampnich, 115 E. Iroquois Ave., Watertown.

July 25: NV Crafts, 8739 Factory St., Evans Mills, Norman and Vera Rasmussen, 8739 Factory St., Evans Mills.

FDL Travel, 7 Van Buren St., Antwerp, Fredric D. Letson, PO Box 287, 7 Van Buren St., Antwerp.

July 24: Arsenal Street Audio, P.O. Box 452, 23438 state Route 12, Watertown, Gregory J. LaDuke, 19052 NYS state Route 177, Adams Center.

Music and Movement for the Extraordinary Child, 110 S. School St., Carthage, Theresa Marie Lorence, 34856 King Drive, Carthage.

July 23: Identity Home Fashions, 2981 Ford St. Ext., Ogdensburg, David Burcsik, 43 Merritt Ave., Ottawa, Ont. July 22: Southern Touch Cleaning Services, 9918B Bemis Heights Road, Watertown, Charity May Burkett, 9918B Bemis Heights Road, Watertown.

July 21: C&F Construction and Spray Foam, 24428 Plank Road, Rodman, Shane Cashel, 24428 Plank Road, Rodman.

Sky’s Jewels, 328 Butterfield Ave., Watertown, Skyler Marley Gerken, 328 Butterfield Ave., Watertown.

Bridge Street Gifts, 15 Bridge St., West Carthage, Michael Henry Kampney, 31318 County Route 143, Black River.

On the Spot Residential Services, 26989 Victory Lane, Watertown, Darlene Converse, 26989 Victory Lane, Watertown.

Anamana Software, 277th ASB B CO, Fort Drum, Correa Inti Peralta, 277th ASB B CO, Fort Drum.

July 9: Innately Social Chiropractic Marketing, 17481 U.S. Route 11 No. 15N, Watertown, Danielle L. Monroe, 17481 U.S. Route 11 No. 15N, Watertown.

Karol’s Canine Cuts, 17670 Cemetery Road, Dexter, Karol J. Dunn, 17670 Cemetery Road, Dexter.

July 8: Walker’s Fish Services, 12308 Route 12E, Chaumont, Harvey Van Dewalker Jr., 24480 Route 12, Watertown.

KJ’s Resales, 36 Spring St., Adams, Stefan Burnham, 12799 County Route 155, Adams Center.

Patchen’s Perfections House Cleaning Services, 26324 Smith Road, Dexter, Brianna Caldwell, 26324 Smith Road, Dexter.

Jeffrey Bogart, 10 St. Lawrence Ave., Alexandria Bay, Jeffrey Bogart, 10 St. Lawrence Ave., Alexandria Bay. Kelly Klean, 10 St. Lawrence Ave., Alexandria Bay, Kelly A. Bogart, 10 St. Lawrence Ave., Alexandria Bay. July 7: Driftwood Deals, 14685 Bay Breeze Way, Dexter, Tomm L. Maxon, 1 Shirley Drive, Adams.

TNL Contracting, 66 Walton St., Alexandria Bay, Lee Rushlow, 66 Walton St., Alexandria Bay. A Lo Boricua, 527 Coffeen St., Watertown, Carlos Luis Pacheco Sanchez and Norma Ivelisse Pacheco Sanchez, 611 Bradley St., Watertown.

S&S Family Farm, 16000 County Route 11, LaFargeville, Daniel Storozow, 16000 County Route 11, LaFargeville.

Hunter Valley Vineyards, 30321 CR 4, Cape Vincent, Taniesha Jo Soluri, 30321 County Route 4, Cape Vincent.

July 3: Lake Ontario Playhouse, 103 W. Main St., Sackets Harbor, Michael R. Kinnie, 1987 S. Taft St., Lakewood, Colo., Andrew R. Kinnie, 17989 County Route 75, Hounsfield.

July 17: NNY Technology Services and Consulting, 151 N. Main St., Black River, Thomas Zecher, 151 N. Main St., P.O. Box 516, Black River.

Spools and Drool A. Baby Boutique, 14049 County Route 75, Sackets Harbor, Jenelle Botts, 14049 County Route 75, Sackets Harbor.

Relic Star Games, 432 College Heights, Watertown, Patrick Vida, 432 College Heights, Watertown.

R. Ketcham Electrical & Construction, 16375 state Route 12E, Limerick, Raymond G. Ketcham Jr., 16375 state Route 12E, Limerick.

July 16: Marjomey Sales Plus, 209 E. Main St., Sackets Harbor, Marjorie Cadden, 209 E. Main St., Sackets Harbor.

Solo Ink Tattoo, 308 State St., Watertown, Zachary Tuttle, 109 N. Hamilton St., Watertown.

July 15: Stroke of Genius Painting, 24506 Perch River Road, Brownville, Justin M. Irey, 24506 Perch River Road, P.O. Box 45, Brownville.

July 2: Amy’s Pit Stop, 24479 state Route 411, LaFargeville, Amy S. Sanford, 36305 state Route 180, P.O. Box 311, LaFargeville.

July 14: Custom Memories Travel, 20889 Morin Lane N., Sackets Harbor, Erin Cook, 20889 Morin Lane N., Sackets Harbor.

July 1: Northern Auto Sales, 24371 state Route 12, Watertown, Jeremy Irey, 24506 County Route 54, P.O. Box 45, Brownville.

TRANSACTIONS

DBAs

Source: Social Service Depts. of Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties

August 2014 | NNY Business

| 15

B U S I N E SS BRIEFCAS E

JCC’s viticulture students break ground on vineyard

Jefferson Community College students in the winery management and marketing program broke ground in May on the college’s new vineyard teaching site.

The venture represents a partnership between the college and Black River Agricultural Research Site. The one-acre vineyard, planted with approximately 175 vines, will serve as an experimental and instructional site for Jefferson’s winery management and marketing program.

North Country Alliance elects 2014-15 officers

James Wright, executive director of the Development Authority of the North Country has been elected president of the North Country Alliance.

Brian Gladwin, NBT Bank, has taken the role of vice president. Dave Zembiec, deputy chief executive officer of Jefferson County Economic Development was elected treasurer and Joseph Russo, lead economic development representative from National Grid was elected secretary.

The North Country Alliance is a private-

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public consortium of private businesses, utilities, universities, financial institutions and economic development organizations working to grow the economy of New York’s seven-county north country region.

Its role is to offer a single point of access to resources a company needs to expand or locate their business in Northern New York.

Enchanted Forest Water Safari honored

Enchanted Forest Water Safari, Old Forge, has been named one of the top 25 water parks in the United States in the 2014 TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Attractions awards. The awards honor top attractions worldwide based on millions of reviews and opinions from TripAdvisor travelers.

Health care guide online

The Samaritan Medical Center Foundation of Northern New York recently launched a guide with information about north country hospitals and providers to help visitors and summer residents find health care services.

Visit nnyhealthguide.com to view the guide online.

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Got business news?

n Share your business news with NNY Business. Email news releases and photos (.jpg/300 dpi) to nnybusiness@wdt.net. The deadline for submissions is the 15th of the month for the following month’s issue. Photos that don’t appear in print may be posted on our Facebook page.

GWNC Chamber selling Watertown building

The Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce, which is seeking to relocate its headquarters, has listed its building at 1241 Coffeen St. for sale.

The brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield has listed the building for sale at $450,000. The chamber’s board unanimously approved the decision to sell the building at its June meeting. The two-story, 3,240-square-foot structure has a 2014 assessed value of $186,800 and a full-market value of $212,273, according to Jefferson County property records.

Lynn M. Pietroski, chamber president and CEO, said the decision to sell the building was made because its 11-member staff has outgrown the building. Options available for an interim or long-term location for the chamber are being explored by its buildings and grounds committee.

The chamber bought the Coffeen Street building in 2007, when it moved from its former Franklin Street location. The chamber anticipates the property will attract developers because of its proximity to Jefferson Community College and Interstate 81.

Farm projects net $496k

Soil and water conservation districts in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties were awarded a collective $496,631 in state grants to provide assistance to 15 farms across the region, part of $13.8 million awarded to more than 200 farms statewide.

BUS IN E SS BRIE FC ASE The competitive grants, announced by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, will be used by 32 county soil and water districts across the state to lead projects at farms in priority watersheds. Jefferson County was awarded $79,880 in grants to lead projects at eight farms, while Lewis County received $97,721 for five farms and St. Lawrence County received $319,030 for two farms.

Districts will collaborate with farmers to implement best management conservation practices at farms, including systems to address manure runoff, pastures, and nutrient and soil health management.

George Proios, chairman of the New York State Soil & Water Conservation Committee, said additional funding was included in the governor’s budget to assist districts this year. Names of farms awarded funding were not released.

Tug Hill Vineyards debuts its first sparkling wine

Tug Hill Vineyards has announced the release of its first sparkling wine made with Marquette grapes grown in Northern New York.

The winery off Route 12 in West Lowville has introduced its new sparkling wine called “Cuvee Rose” made from locally grown grapes using a traditional method that has been used for centuries in the Champagne region of France, according to a statement by the winery. Marquette grapes used to make the wine were sourced from growers Darrell M. and Carrie L. Sweredoski, who own a vineyard off Route 12 in Watertown. The couple exclusively grows Marquette grapes.

Susan E. Maring, who owns Tug Hill Vineyards with her husband, Michael F., said they decided to buy Marquette grapes in the fall of 2013 to produce the sparkling wine.

Tug Hill Vineyards winemaker Craig A. Hosbach said that Marquette grapes were selected to make the wine because it is among only a few varieties used for champagne production in France.

Wayback Burgers opens in Evans Mills plaza

Franchisee Joseph A. Biccum opened a second Wayback Burgers restaurant in mid-July at the shopping plaza neighboring the Walmart Supercenter off Route 11 in the village of Evans Mills.

The 2,400-square-foot restaurant is housed at vacant spaces previously occupied by Verizon Wireless and Carvel Ice Cream, said Mr. Biccum, who launched his first Wayback Burgers location in 2013 at Salmon Run Mall, Watertown.

A shared wall separating those spaces was knocked down during construction.

Mr. Biccum leased the space from the Spectra Group Inc. of Memphis, Tenn., which owns the plaza. Mr. Biccum’s decision to launch the restaurant at the plaza near the main gate of Fort Drum comes after a successful first year in sales at the Watertown location. Earlier this month, he received a Small Business Excellence Award from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Mr. Biccum said the Evans Mills location will acquire a state license to offer beer on tap and will have seating for 50 to 60 diners. About 25 employees will staff the restaurant.

Mr. Biccum said he invested about $200,000 to launch the Evans Mills restaurant. He said the location is ideal because of its proximity to Fort Drum.

As a franchisee, Mr. Biccum said, he plans to open three additional restaurants over the next three years. He said they likely will be launched in Canton, Potsdam and Cicero.

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| 17

PEOPLE, from page 13

Completes professional tractor-trailer training

Eric Panunzio, Hammond, recently graduated from National Tractor Trailer School, Liverpool.

Mr. Panunzio earned a training certificate by completing 225 hours of education in the school’s contract training course. He has begun a new career as a tractor-trailer driver for MBI Energy Services. He was previously a a technician inspector.

Nurse practitioner joins River Hospital staff

Joyce Ndungu, nurse practitioner, began seeing patients at River Family Health Center, 6 Fuller St., Aug. 4. Prior to her appointment at River Hospital, Ms. Ndungu worked as a nurse practitioner at the New York Spine and Wellness Center, North Syracuse.

Ms. Ndungu earned a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing at the University of Kansas and holds a membership with the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. She resides in Calcium with her husband, Hoseah, who is active duty military stationed at Fort Drum.

Save the River director appointed to A2A board

D. Lee Willbanks, executive director of Save the River, a Clayton-based environmental advocacy group, has been appointed to the board of directors of the Algonquin to Adirondacks Collaborative, or A2A. A2A is a multinational collaborative of organizations with a common vision supporting the natural biodiversity of the Algonquin Park in Canada and the Adirondack Park in the north country, with the St. Lawrence River being an essential feature.

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SMAL L BU SIN E SS STA RT UP BUSINESS

THE TREEHOUSE DROP IN HOURLY CHILD CARE THE INITIAL IDEA

Before being transferred to the north country from Fort Bragg, N.C., Mandy L. James and her young family often used the services of an hourly drop-in child care center. But upon moving to Fort Drum earlier this year, they found no such similar service.

Mrs. James almost immediately recognized the need and began to consider the potential launch of a venture modeled after the center her family had used in North Carolina. She conducted an informal feasibility study, asking other moms about their wants and needs for child care in the area.

The same sentiment kept repeating. There is a demand for drop-in hourly child care, particularly among the Fort Drum community.

“Someone should open something like that,” she would hear. “They’re right,” Mrs. James remembered thinking. “Someone should.”

TARGET CLIENTELE

Mrs. James and her husband, Brandon, have a 3-year-old daughter, Chloe, and a 5-year-old son, Mason.

The couple is expecting their third child this month. They understand intimately the need for relationship-focused time, and this service helps provide that.

“Our goal is not only to nurture and support the children in our care, but to nurture and support the family as a whole by providing an avenue for parents to take time out for themselves,” Mrs. James said.

THE JOURNEY “I think this is an answer to a lot of parents’ prayers,” Mrs. James said.

A military spouse, Mrs. James, 27, said she believes there is demand among military spouses and busy parents in the Watertown and Fort Drum areas for this specific type of child care.

“When you’re a military spouse and don’t have family in the area, you need somewhere to drop your children off if you want to go out for a date night or just need to drop them off to shop for groceries,” she said.

The Treehouse employs a staff of four with each employee having completed comprehensive background checks, CPR certification and experience in early childhood education.

At the 2,600-square-foot facility, activities are age appropriate. A television, Wii

AMANDA MORRISON | NNY BUSINESS

“I think this is an answer to a lot of our parents’ prayers.

Our mission is to nurture relationships.”

— Mandy L. James, owner, The Treehouse Drop In Hourly Child Care and tablets are in a separate area for older children, while a myriad of toys and books occupy a space for younger ones.

Serving children from 12 months to 12 years, the business offers care for up to threehour periods per child. Just enough time to run errands, keep an appointment, have a meeting, or enjoy “just a few hours of sanity,” Mrs. James said.

Hourly rates are $7.50 per child. Families with multiple children pay $7.50 an hour for the first child and $5 for each additional child.

Compared with traditional child care centers, the Treehouse offers convenient, flexible scheduling with no registration or cancellation fees and payments are made on an hourly basis.

A multi-use conference room is also available for parents to rent to host meetings, counseling sessions or special events while their children play.

“We even had a mom come in to work on school work once,” Mrs. James said. “It’s a quiet space without distractions to get a few focused hours of work done,” she said.

Hours are from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Thursday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

“We especially wanted to provide date night options for parents on the weekends,”

Mrs. James said. “Our mission is to nurture relationships,” she said.

IN FIVE YEARS

In the near future, Mrs. James would like to become New York State licensed in order to provide child care for longer than three hours.

State law does not require licensing for businesses that provide child care for less than three-hour periods.

“I would love to be able to expand and offer more services,” Mrs. James said. “An indoor play area would be great.”

As a military family, the James’ time at Fort Drum is veritable, but will likely last about three years.

“We have no idea how long we’ll be in the area,” Mrs. James said.

She plans to keep the center open and hire a manager when her family is reassigned.

“I know this concept is great and solid. It’s just a matter of getting the word out,” she said.

Mrs. James has 35 families registered and hopes to average at least five children per hour, never having more than 24 children in the facility at a time.

“I felt absolutely called to do this,” Mrs. James said.

— Grace E. Johnston

WHERE Watertown | FOUNDED 2014 | WEB www.thetreehousehourlychildcare.com

August 2014 | NNY Business

| 19

J

osh Moust, left, and Justin Mason exercise in the gym at New York Air Brake’s on-site wellness center in Watertown. Facing page, an ErgoCoach message pops up on a New York Air Brake employee’s computer, warning that he is spending too much time at his workstation. The program provides exercise suggestions and reminds users to take short breaks throughout the workday.

The Airbrake has taken several steps to invest in employee health and wellness.

C O V E R S T O RY

A prescription for a healthy workforce WORK SITE WELLNESS PROGRAMS CATCH ON WITH NORTH COUNTRY EMPLOYERS AS REGION LOOKS FOR WAYS TO TIGHTEN ITS BELT TO IMPROVE HEALTH TEXT BY NORAH MACHIA | PHOTOS BY AMANDA MORRISON

M

ANY NORTH COUNTRY RESIDENTS AREN’T FEELING VERY HEALTHY these days. Just take a look at some recent survey results that appear on the North Country Health Compass, a Web-based source of population data and community health information: The percentage of obese adults is higher than average in the north country (obesity is defined as having a body mass index of more than 30). In Jefferson County, that represents an estimated 31.6 percent of the population, in St. Lawrence County, 32 percent and in Lewis County, 29 percent.

The statewide average is 23.2 percent.

An estimated 28 percent of adults in Jefferson County smoke, 27 percent in St. Lawrence County and 20 percent in Lewis County.

The statewide average is 18 percent.

These are among several contributing factors to the region’s higher than average rates of chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, according to health officials.

Take another look at a report issued in April by the 19-member state-appointed North Country Health System Redesign Commission.

“The region’s health is sub-par,” according to the commission. “By example, compared to statewide norms, the north country counts a higher percentage of adults without health insurance, and more diagnosed

with diabetes, asthma and obesity — as well as more smokers.”

Members of the commission noted the region’s health care delivery system was “highly fragmented” with an excess of hospital and nursing home beds, but an uneven distribution of hospitals in the nine-county region that includes Jefferson, St. Lawrence

and Lewis counties.

Commission members also noted that preventative and primary care capacity is inadequate, and that the region has faced difficulty in recruiting all types of health care practitioners, particularly physicians.

High rates of poverty and an aging population has been forcing many providers to “rely heavily on Medicare and Medicaid with their relatively low reimbursement levels,” the report stated.

The situation is complicated even more as a result of rising rates of chronic disease among north country residents, “which jeopardize the region’s economy, workforce and quality of life.”

The report recommends “an integrated approach to care” with a system that emphasizes “prevention, increased primary care, builds more community-based options, strengthens coordination and communication, supports critical safety net providers, monitors and rewards quality, and builds affiliations and partnerships that achieve these goals in a costefficient and fiscally sound way.”

But one important contributor to improving the health of the region’s residents can be found in a source away from the bricks and mortar of the health care system.

The work site.

Wellness programs that are sponsored by businesses are a “win for the employee, for the employer and for the community,” said August 2014 | NNY Business

| 21

COV E R ST O RY Denise K. Young, executive director of the Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization and a member of the North Country Health Systems Redesign Commission.

“There are so many reasons as an employee to embrace work site wellness,” she said. “Fitness impacts our mood, our productivity and our long-term ability to achieve our life goals.”

“It impacts all segments of our lives,” she added.

From an employer’s perspective, “it does all of those and can significantly impact health care costs,” Mrs. Young added.

22 | NNY Business | August 2014

A well-implemented work site wellness program can “save hundreds, to hundreds of thousands of dollars in health care costs. In addition, the much harder to measure costs of lost productivity, sick time, workers compensation, disability and low morale,” she said.

New York Air Brake, a member of the Knorr-Bremse Group, has launched a host of workplace health initiatives. Several years ago, a gym was built on-site to make it more convenient for employees to fit in time for physical exercise.

And there are added incentives. The

employees who work out in the gym can log into a computer and earn points based on the number of times they work out. Every quarter, they can redeem the points for various $25 gift cards, said Rebekah Mead, NYAB occupational health nurse.

“It’s an incentive for the days you don’t feel like working out,” she said.

The Air Brake program also offers individual counseling to employees who are trying to keep their blood pressure, cholesterol or blood sugar under control, she said.

“We provide education on-site,” Ms.

C OV ER S TORY Mead said. “We can take the time to talk to employees individually about their lifestyle, their medications and any stress in their life. That way, we can provide individualized education.”

For those employees who reach their health goals, such as improving their cholesterol, the employer will make a contribution to their Health Savings Account.

“We’re paying people to be healthy,” she said.

A pilot program was recently started for 25 employees who work at desks throughout the day in the manufacturing plant. In addition to ensuring their work areas are ergonomically compatible for their individual needs, the Air Brake has implemented a computer program that reminds the employee to “get up from the desk and stretch or move around” for a few minutes throughout the workday, she said.

“How often the message is conveyed is based on how much a person is typing into the computer,” Ms. Mead said.

The company, which manufactures freight and locomotive air brake control systems to the rail transportation industry, is “trying to be extremely proactive” when it comes to the health of its employees, she said.

“These types of programs are the wave of the future” for businesses, she said.

Work site wellness programs can be invaluable in helping to prevent some of the chronic diseases that have been identified in the north country population, said Ian Grant, rural health program manager for the Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization.

The agency has worked with health officials in all three counties to identify priorities to improve the health of north country residents, and the results have been published in the organization’s Community Health Improvement Plan (2014–2017).

The plan, along with a wide range of health data particular to the three counties, can be found online at www.ncnyhealthcompass.org.

“Our region has disproportionally high rates of chronic disease, low rates of comprehensive child care and high rates of behavioral health conditions, especially suicides and substance abuse,” Mr. Grant said. “Therefore, the plan focuses on preventing chronic diseases, improving maternal and infant health, and improving behavioral health outcomes.”

Health officials hope to accomplish the goals set out in the plan by “leveraging health information technology, promoting screening and prevention initiatives, and policy intervention,” he said.

“To move the needle on the health issues affecting our region we are also bringing new partners to the table — such as schools, busi-

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ness leaders and the faith-based community,” Mr. Grant added.

Employers can be a valuable resource in the overall effort to reach healthy outcomes among north country residents, he said.

“Business leaders have far-reaching influence on the health of their communities,” Mr. Grant said. “Safe workplace conditions and ample work site wellness opportunities promote employee health.”

Workplace wellness initiatives are “therefore critical components of communitybased prevention efforts. We also know that employed individuals are generally healthier than their unemployed peers,” he added.

“A healthy work site provides stable income, safe physical environment, and social support — all key determinants of health,” Mr. Grant said. “In addition to lowering health care costs and increasing employee productivity, work site wellness programs can positively impact work culture and attract potential employees.”

United Helpers is one of the largest employers in St. Lawrence County, and is in the business of providing a range of services to senior citizens, developmentally disabled and those dealing with mental illness. These include housing, rehabilitation and respite services.

But officials there have also been working to take care of their own employees, so they in turn can provide the best care possible for their clients “We hold three incentive campaigns per year,” said Michelle L. Durham, who has planned several of the company’s health initiatives. “The first is focused on weight loss, the second physical activity, and the third is focused on maintaining healthy lifestyles and making healthy choices, promoting overall wellness.”

The competitive campaigns run between eight and 10 weeks and employees can compete as individuals or as teams, she said.

Although the campaigns are scheduled at the business’s organizational level, each agency within United Helpers (Mosaic and Maplewood in Canton, and RiverLedge in Ogdensburg) hold their own functions and celebrations around the campaigns, she said.

For example, the staff at the Mosaic office held a “Day of Play” in their newly renovated gymnasium to celebrate the end of the physical activity campaign. The staff at RiverLedge held a healthy recipe competition around the holidays and the Maplewood members cook healthy meals one day a week to share with staff, she said.

“In collaboration with our sustainability efforts, staff members have planted gardens yielding fresh vegetables, at several of our

C OV ER S TORY facilities,” Ms. Durham added. “We also have fitness equipment that employees are allowed to use at both Maplewood and RiverLedge, and, in the very near future, Mosaic, as well.”

“Once employees are trained on the equipment at one site, they are given a passcode so that they can access any of the gyms across the organization, at no cost,” she said.

There are several resources for businesses that want to start offering healthy initiatives at the workplace for employees, including the public health agencies in the three counties.

Offerings can include on-site educational health presentations on topics such as nutrition and fitness.

For example, Lewis County Public Health has two staff trained as wellness program managers who can assess a particular work site and assist employers in developing wellness initiatives by helping them to locate specific resources.

The agency’s health education programs can be offered one time or for multiple classes, said Penny A. Ingham, Lewis County Public Health director.

“Topics would be related to the needs of a particular workforce and to Lewis County Public Health objectives for population health,” she said. “Some examples include a diabetes prevention program, breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer outreach, personal preparedness, and chronic disease self-management.”

The Watertown Family YMCA has been offering the New York State YMCA Diabetes Prevention Program in Watertown for the past four years, said Michelle L. Graham, senior director of health and wellness.

The agency is open to working with businesses that are interested in bringing the program to their workplaces, she said.

The goal of the program is to help adults develop healthier lifestyles before they become diabetic, she said.

“A lot of people have pre-diabetes and don’t even know it,” she said. “The numbers are staggering.”

Mrs. Graham said the diabetes prevention program, which includes a 16-week membership to the YMCA, focuses on modest weight change to alter one’s blood glucose level, therefore decreasing one’s chances of developing type 2 diabetes.

Two goals of the program include reducing body weight by 7 percent and increasing physical activity to 150 minutes per week.

Contact the YMCA at 782-3100 to learn more.

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n NORAH MACHIA is a freelance writer who lives in Watertown. She is a 20-year veteran journalist and former Watertown Daily Times reporter. Contact her at norahmachia@gmail.com.

August 2014 | NNY Business

| 25

H EA LT H C ARE

Nurse practitioner Erica L. Lussier and U.S. Marine veteran Robert F. Arazy in an exam room at Massena Memorial Hospital’s North County Veterans Clinic.

The clinic serves more than half of St. Lawrence County’s 4,000 military veterans.

MELANIE KIMBLER-LAGO | NNY BUSINESS

Serving all who served North Country Veterans Clinic a valued resource

By GABRIELLE HOVENDON

T

NNY Business

he U.S. Air Force first championed the phrase “service before self,” but its motto is also fitting for a particuzlar Northern New York clinic.

Despite recent scandals in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Massena Memorial Hospital’s North Country Veterans Clinic continues to operate as a wellspring of excellent care. In the 22 years since it opened, the clinic has served thousands of veterans and worked constantly to expand its medical services.

“We respond to the needs of our patient population. We listen, we analyze and we figure out the best way to meet their needs,” said Mark Brouillette, senior director of ancillary services at Massena Memorial Hospital. “We offer additional services when the opportunity presents itself. I think ultimately we’ve ingrained in our staff that we put

26 | NNY Business | August 2014

the patient first. The patient is always our primary concern.”

With a population of 4,000 veterans in St. Lawrence County, the clinic has approximately 2,100 registered patients from its home county as well as Franklin County and even parts of Canada. Each month, the clinic sees about 500 patients for primary care and another 500 for mental health services, with a significant increase in posttraumatic stress disorder-related appointments over the past five years.

More than two decades old, the North Country Veterans Clinic was established in 1993 after the Syracuse VA Medical Center announced it was going to launch an outreach clinic in Northern New York. When Massena Memorial Hospital’s application was selected, the hospital had just 30 days to build a site within the hospital and recruit clinicians and support staff.

“On a really cold January morning, we had hundreds and hundreds of veterans coming to register for the brand new clinic

we were establishing,” recalls Tina Corcoran, senior director of public relations and planning at Massena Memorial Hospital and one of the key players in the establishment of the clinic. “It was very exciting.”

Today, the clinic has grown from an approximately 800-square-foot site to a 3,000-square-foot space with two physician assistants, two nurse practitioners and an additional four-person mental health team.

Although it initially offered mainly primary care services, the clinic now provides mental health counseling, labs and X-rays, nutritional counseling, prescription services and more.

To better meet its patients’ needs, the clinic also offers telehealth, a new informational technology that allows patients in remote locations to connect over a secure network with a practitioner in a larger city.

With the help of an on-site assistant and remote stethoscopes, otoscopes and other tools, specialists in Syracuse can diagnose and prescribe treatment plans without the patient ever leaving Massena.

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“Telehealth saves the patients from having to drive to Syracuse for a specialist appointment,” said Zachary Chapman, senior director of practice management at Massena Memorial Hospital. “This is one of the ways the VA is bringing health care services locally to the communities that the veterans live in instead of having one big medical center that the patient has to drive to.”

According to Mr. Chapman, between 100 and 150 patients use the clinic’s telehealth services every month, with specialist appointments available in gastroenterology, endocrinology, otolaryngology, rheumatology, cardiology, podiatry and more.

Still, it’s not only state-of-the-art technology that allows the North Country Veterans Clinic to serve its patients. Ms. Corcoran attributes its positive track record to a strong and robust support system in the community, including a local advisory committee with representatives from the AMVETS National Service Foundation, the Syracuse VA Medical Center, and the county and state legislatures. This committee meets bimonthly to improve the clinic’s continuity of care and expand its services.

Marty Fowler, a Massena resident who spent seven and a half years in the U.S. Navy as a signalmen second class aboard the U.S.S. Turner Joy, said that being a patient at the clinic has been an excellent experience for him. Although he can recall a former period of high staff turnover, he said the problem is now solved — so much so that he’s designed a T-shirt singing the praises of the clinic.

“They’ve been absolutely wonderful from the receptionist on up,” he said. “They’re all caring people. I’ve been through a lot of doctors up there, but there’s not a time that you call up there and they’re not willing to help you. They run a tight ship.”

In the end, the North Country Veterans Clinic’s secret to success may be as simple as its quick response time and its strong community support.

“From the day we opened our doors, we had the support of our veterans,” Ms. Corcoran said. “Some of the veterans have multiple medical issues, and they just need to be treated. We do that with respect and continuity of care. They served us, and now we proudly serve them.” n GABRIELLE HOVENDON is a former Watertown Daily Times reporter and freelance writer who lives in Watertown. Contact her at ghovendon@gmail.com.

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| 27

H EA LT H C ARE

Joey Marie Horton, North Country Family Health Center executive director in the adult care wing of the Arsenal Street center.

The center regained its financial independence last month.

AMANDA MORRISON | NNY BUSINESS

Back from the brink

Family health center director leads clinic to financial solvency

By GRACE E. JOHNSTON

A NNY Business

t just 28 years old, North Country Family Health Center Executive Director Joey Marie Horton has led the fledging and formerly known Children’s Clinic to financial solvency, helping to put it on a path to providing the most vulnerable in the community with quality, affordable health care.

A native of Alexandria Bay, Mrs. Horton’s grandfather was a general physician in the small riverside town. She remembers hearing stories as a young girl about her grandfather’s work in the community.

“He delivered me; he set my brother’s broken leg; he pulled a fish hook out of soand-so’s lip,” she recalled.

The stories were endless. And it was then that she became convinced of the importance of quality health care in small, rural communities.

“Health becomes so intertwined in families’ lives,” she explained. “Physicians

28 | NNY Business | August 2014

can effect generations.”

She completed an MBA in health services management at the School of Business at SUNY IT and a bachelor’s degree in psychology and health studies from Queen’s University, Kingston, Ont. “At 5 years old I wanted to be a doctor,” she smiled. But as she got older, Mrs. Horton found administration was a better fit. “I was still interested in the medical side of things; just in an administrative capacity,” she said.

Before Mrs. Horton’s return to the thenChildren’s Clinic, it was clear in October 2013 that simply dumping more cash into the same old operating system was not a viable solution to the persistent financial ailments that plagued the clinic. Health care has entered a new era, with the federal Affordable Care Act only one part of the rapidly changing landscape that all health care providers have to navigate.

The clinic was suffering from an inefficient management structure, an outdated vision of how to fund operations, billing processes that were woefully behind the

times and no clear view of where and how to obtain funding for services.

Then the team of Samaritan, the state Department of Health, Mrs. Horton and finance director Kelly Clark entered the scene. With the premise that what had been could no longer be, the first significant change was a new operating plan to realign management structure.

Mrs. Horton returned permanently to the health center in 2014 as she worked for the organization from 2007 to 2012 in its school-based health program. Previously, she held the position of deputy director of the Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization, Watertown.

While at FDRHPO, Mrs. Horton also held the job of network director of north country health care providers, a multi-hospital rural health network. She also served as co-executive director of the New York State Coalition for School-Based Health Centers.

Across a wide spectrum of health care organizations, Mrs. Horton had consistently advocated for collaboration, engagement,

H E A LTH CARE planning and development.

“It was at a board meeting one day when I really started to see myself in an executive role,” she said.

Mrs. Horton embraced the challenges facing the clinic and instituted collaborative changes to their operational procedures.

They found a new manner of funding by taking advantage of a Federally Qualified Health Center designation to obtain the highest possible reimbursement rates for the services the center provides to poor and lower- to middle-income clients.

The main purpose of the FQHC program is to enhance the provision of primary care services in underserved urban and rural communities, of which the four counties the center services qualify, namely Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence and Franklin counties.

They also sought and obtained loans and grants to meet immediate needs and reduced staff by a net of 12 employees to make the operations leaner and more efficient. The center now operates with a total staff of 109 employees; 10 at the St. Lawrence center, five at the Franklin center, five at the Lewis center and 89 in the Watertown office.

And significantly cutting costs was the movement to a new payment system and an improved billing process through contracting to experts in FQHC billing.

“We didn’t have the expertise on-site,” Mrs. Horton said. “It became more cost effective to outsource the service.”

They also improved the flow of clients through the clinic by making changes to reduce the negative effects of no-show clients, jumped into a consortium to reduce medical malpractice insurance costs and set up a plan to quickly shed unsecured debt by paying off vendors who were owed about $180,000.

At its core, the organization provides medical, mental health, dental and WIC services. The center operates on a budget of $6.6 million, including the WIC program.

However, in order to meet the 19 requirements associated with a FQHC is a cost of an average of $730,000 per year.

Because the clinic’s mission is to treat every patient regardless of ability to pay, the agency relies on a mix of revenue sources.

Since becoming its FQHC designation, finance director Ms. Clark said the Medicaid reimbursement rate has increased by about 10 percent in the past three months.

That’s because as of Jan. 1, more people are eligible to receive federal insurance who may have not been insured before. This allows health providers, such as the North Country Family Health Center, to collect insurance payments from new Medicaid patients versus having to rely on patients who use a reduced-fee scale, or not having the ability to pay for services at all.

Samaritan CEO Thomas H. Carman has

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credited the agency’s recent successes to Mrs. Horton and her staff.

“You gain an edge in empathy and work ethic when you work in the service industry,” Mrs. Horton smiled. She has done her share of waiting tables.

However, Mrs. Horton is most excited about health care accessibility opened up through the use of telemedicine.

“It’s not a new technology,” she said. “It’s just another way to provide services.”

But, she said, smiling, “Telemedicine is still pretty cool.”

For purposes of Medicaid, telemedicine seeks to improve a patient’s health by permitting two-way, real time interactive communication between the patient, and the physician or practitioner who may be working from a distant site.

Telemedicine is viewed as a cost-effective alternative to the more traditional face-toface way of providing medical care. For example, face-to-face consultations or examinations between provider and patient. Its uses can vary from psychiatry to neurology, cardiology, dermatology and even dialysis.

Mrs. Horton sees a particular need and demand for psychiatry and dermatology services in the county; services that could be expanded through telemedicine.

“We want to see care move to more of a value-based system as opposed to a system based on the number of visits,” Mrs. Horton said. In other words, patient-centric, valuebased care.

“That’s how we’ll be paid down the road,” she said.

But she does concede that reimbursements remain a particular challenge.

“It’s good for the patient, but reimbursements don’t always follow,” she said. “It can be very difficult to recruit providers to a rural area. But telemedicine can help bridge that gap for us.”

And speaking of keeping and recruiting quality health care professionals to the north country. It is possible. Northern New York has found one in Mrs. Horton.

She and her husband, Hunter, a golf pro at Ived Hill Country Club, Watertown, are both north country natives.

“I love the river,” Mrs. Horton said. She lives with her husband and son, Greyson, 1, on Wellesley Island. “I get to drive over the (Thousand Islands) bridge every day and wonder how lucky I am to be able to live and work here. There’s something unique about rural communities.”

“If we can engage students in health careers at a young age and provide opportunities for them here, we can keep them.” “I love it here,” she said. n GRACE JOHNSTON is a staff writer and editorial assistant for NNY Magazines. Contact her at gjohnston@wdt.net or 661-2381.

30 | NNY Business | August 2014

H E ALT H C A R E

NORM JOHNSTON | NNY BUSINESS

From left, Nicole Paratore, Hospice of Jefferson County Foundation marketing and events coordinator; Diana Woodhouse, Hospice of Jefferson County CEO; Lynn Dobbins, Foundation director of development. “Our purpose is to help manage symptoms and provide support for a peaceful, dignified death,” Mrs. Woodhouse said.

A final place of rest

Hospice ‘affirms life in every way possible’ for patients

By GRACE E. JOHNSTON

T

NNY Business

he word “Hospice” originated in Medieval Europe and described a place of rest where travelers could seek shelter and nourishment. Today, the hospice concept has been adapted to encompass a program of care meeting the physical, emotional, spiritual, and social needs of individuals in their final stage of life.

Hospice exists to provide support on every level from the moment an illness becomes life limiting. Following a medical referral, all admissions and care plans are

personally evaluated with in-home care focused on those with less than six months to live and those in residence having less than three months to live.

“It’s always better to come to us earlier,” said Nicole Paratore, Hospice Foundation of Jefferson County marketing and events coordinator. “If someone is able to receive care early, it’s much more likely they’ll view the process as a peaceful one.”

Hospice care in Jefferson County began around 1986 and since that time has cared for thousands of Northern New Yorkers.

According to CEO Diana Woodhouse, approximately 300 in-home Hospice patients

are cared for each year.

Care is offered to patients at any age, from newborns to 100 years, plus.

“Our oldest patient was 108,” Mrs. Woodhouse smiled. “There are always those special patients who make the work extra hard, though. This isn’t work for everyone. I think for many of us, it’s a calling.”

Hospice isn’t a place mired in sadness.

“We’ve had weddings, family reunions, Christmases and Easters here,” Mrs. Paratore said. “It’s an opportunity to reconnect families.” And Mrs. Paratore is not simply an employee of Hospice. She and her famAugust 2014 | NNY Business

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H EA LT H C ARE ily personally experienced the compassionate care of Hospice staff.

“I had such a positive experience when my mother-in-law passed away here,” she said.

The Hospice team consists of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, social workers, bereavement counselors, and volunteers. Jefferson County Hospice employs about 40 people, coordinating a patient volunteer base of around 50, and about 15 foundation and event volunteers.

“There are a lot of moving parts,” Mrs. Woodhouse said.

The Hospice team is interdisciplinary, recognizing that a life-limiting illness has emotional and spiritual dimensions for both the patient and family. One of the biggest needs filled by Hospice is bereavement care for those left behind after a loved one dies.

“Medical treatments are so far advanced that sometimes I think we think we can be cured of anything,” Mrs. Woodhouse explained. “But there is always an end of the day.”

Medicaid and Medicare require Hospice to provide 13 months of bereavement care following the death of a loved one; however financial reimbursement for these services is not provided.

“It’s an important part of the care we provide,” Mrs. Woodhouse said. “It’s support groups, individual counseling and, as a benefit to our community, anyone can come here for bereavement counseling and care, even if it wasn’t a hospiceattended death,” she said.

In-home visits are also made to patient residences as often as indicated by the plan of care, with phone support and emergency visits available 24 hours a day. Drugs and medical supplies necessary to alleviate pain and discomfort associated with a patient’s terminal condition are also supplied as part of the Hospice benefit.

“We can help stabilize a patient’s condition as they decline,” Mrs. Woodhouse said.

“Our purpose is to help manage symptoms and provide support for a peaceful, dignified death.”

Hospice care has, since its inception in 1948, relied on the generous support of the community to fulfill its mission. No patient is refused care because of a lack of insurance or means. However, Medicare and Medicaid, the primary sources of payment for Hospice, do not reimburse the full cost of care.

The fundraising work of the Foundation is therefore critical, because although federal and state regulations are

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important in maintaining a high standard of care, there are a number of unfunded, mandated services not reimbursed by the Hospice Medicaid benefit.

To help offset gaps in reimbursement, the Hospice Foundation of Jefferson County was established as a nonprofit corporation to provide financial support for Hospice of Jefferson County.

Through its fundraising efforts, the foundation is able to ensure that all patients, regardless of means, receive the highest level of care. In addition to providing operating support to Hospice, the foundation provides grants to individuals, underwrites the bereavement program, and maintains the assets of the agency. Foundation monies are invested and managed through the Northern New York Community Foundation and RBC Wealth Management.

“We use the proceeds from the investments to support hospice operations, facilities and maintenance,” Mrs. Woodhouse said.

As one of only three in the state, the Watertown Hospice residence on outer Gotham Street at Ellis Farm was modeled after a facility in Utica and is an eight-bedroom facility designed to be a home away from home. The residence has a family room, eat-in kitchen, walking trail around a pond, meditation room and family shower facilities.

Staff at the 8,378-square-foot residence at offer 24-hour care. The $4.3 million project was made possible through agency fundraising and a $3.3 million state grant.

Hospice of Jefferson County is a unique model because it has both home care and an inpatient residence, but St. Lawrence and Lewis Counties also offer in-home Hospice care. All three counties are members of the Hospice and Palliative Care Association of New York State and coordinate care within the overlapping areas of the counties.

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H E A LTH CARE even a co-pay. Hospice coverage is a right for all who meet the appropriate medical criteria under the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and under the Hospice Medicaid Benefit, enacted in 1986. Most other insurance plans provide some amount of coverage as well.

For those patients who elect care in the residence, there is a room and board fee, exempt for those with Medicaid coverage.

A sliding scale fee is available, but no one is refused care due to a lack of insurance coverage or ability to pay.

“The friendships in Watertown are wide,” Mrs. Woodhouse said. Hospice donations range from $20 to $20,000.

Some of the foundation’s largest community fundraisers are the annual Hospice Regatta in Henderson Harbor, the annual Dick Guyette Golf Tournament in Castorland and the annual Hospice Spring Fling in Henderson. Each event raises between $20,000 and $30,000 for Hospice.

“You can’t do more meaningful work than to work with Hospice,” Mrs. Woodhouse said.

A registered nurse for more than 40 years, Mrs. Woodhouse said taking care of people will always be a part of her. While she misses many of the hands-on duties as an oncology nurse, she said she is happy as an administrator now, knowing she is still making a difference in people’s lives.

Before she joined the Hospice team, Mrs. Woodhouse worked for Samaritan Health System for six years, first as vice president of nursing and chief nursing officer at Samaritan Medical Center. She also developed and implemented an 11-week certified nursing assistant program at Samaritan Keep Home.

“It’s a joy to come to work here every day,” she said. “We affirm life in every way possible.” n GRACE JOHNSTON is a staff writer and editorial assistant for NNY Magazines. Contact her at gjohnston@wdt.net or 661-2381.

August 2014 | NNY Business

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H EA LT H C ARE

Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center’s Richard E. Winter Center Director Jerry Sheppard stands next to a state-of-theart radiation machine at the Ogdensburg cancer treatment facility. The center opened a new $4.7 million wing in July. This year marks the 20th year since the center opened to patients.

MELANIE KIMBLER-LAGO | NNY BUSINESS

A PLACE TO HEAL

Claxton-Hepburn center marks 20 years with $4.7m wing

By LARRY ROBINSON

T

NNY Business

he former president and CEO of Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center was on hand last month to help dedicate the opening of the Richard E. Winter Cancer Treatment Center’s new $4.7 million radiation oncology wing, where he praised those involved with the project for helping create “a near-miraculous convergence of hurting and healing.”

“It is a privilege of our profession when we see the hurting and the healing come together,” Mark A. Webster said. “And this gives us a new tool that has been amply and very well described by many of our speakers, which allows us to combat something that doesn’t fight fair at all, and never has fought fairly. So we need as much as we can to compete against it.”

Mr. Webster, who made the trip from Cortland Regional Medical Center where he now serves as hospital president, was one of dozens of people on hand and one of several

34 | NNY Business | August 2014

who played a part in helping make the new cancer treatment wing a reality.

The dedication coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Richard E. Winter Cancer Treatment Center. The facility’s new 3,264-square-foot wing at 214 King St. broke ground in September. It is home to a multifunctional Varian Trilogy linear accelerator that will allow doctors to direct radiation more precisely at cancerous tumors. The procedure will reduce the number of treatments needed for some forms of cancer and is precise and sensitive enough to target an area of cancer half the thickness of a dime, leaving the surrounding tissue unharmed.

Jerry Sheppard, director of the center, said treatment could be cut from 45 days to about five days in some cases.

“It takes the financial burden off the patient, who regularly drives back and forth for treatment,” Mr. Sheppard said. “It also gives them a more precise treatment so that the actual treatment time is quicker.”

Mr. Sheppard said the facility is the only cancer treatment center north of Syracuse and west of Burlington, Vt., to offer such

precise treatment.

The new equipment allows doctors to treat certain brain and lung cancers for which there has been no treatment available in the north country.

The cancer center at Claxton-Hepburn is the only one in the region recognized by the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons and the American College of Radiology. The facility also has received accreditation through the American College of Surgeons for its breast health center, which employs leading-edge techniques and technologies in the detection and treatment of breast cancer.

Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell, DTheresa, said the addition at the Richard E. Winter Cancer Treatment Center is an example of what a community can accomplish when people share a common vision of helping others.

“It is comfortable, compassionate care close to home,” she said. “That’s what they offer here. This community and this hospital and those that support it have worked so hard to make sure that they stay one step ahead.”

Ogdensburg Mayor William D. Nelson

H E A LTH CARE Mark A. Webster, former medical center president and CEO gets emotional during the unveiling of the new wing.

said Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center and the Richard E. Winter Cancer Treatment Center are irreplaceable parts of the city and provide a level of care that touches lives far beyond the community’s boundaries.

“People used to have to drive to Kingston, Burlington or Syracuse” Mr. Nelson said. “Over the past 20 years, it has been a progressive center where we have excellent physicians, and the hospital has always maintained exceptional equipment.”

Patients began treatments at the oncology wing last month.

“It is difficult to imagine, but 20 years ago there was no cancer center in the north country,” Cynthia L. Clusen, Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center Foundation executive director, said. “Without the vision of key volunteers and generosity of Richard E. Winter, it is likely that our friends and neighbors would today still be traveling to distant locations like Syracuse or Burlington for cancer care,” Ms. Clusen said.

In the 20 years since its founding, Ms. Clusen said, the cancer center, in conjunction with Claxton-Hepburn, has continued to expand its ability to treat patients and to better target specific forms of cancer. She said several years ago a vacuum-assisted breast biopsy program was launched, satellite medical oncology clinics in Canton and Massena were opened and a treatment known as intensity-modulated radiation therapy was added. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy is a procedure in which beams of radiation are manipulated to conform to the shape of a tumor.

The radiation oncology wing represents the center’s next step in safer, higher quality and more targeted cancer care, Ms. Clusen said.

The Claxton-Hepburn Foundation has undertaken a major fundraising campaign to support the center. Mr. Webster made a generous, undisclosed donation to the center’s fundraising campaign in memory of his wife’s sister, who died from an aggressive form of lung cancer.

To donate, call 393-9175 or visit www. claxtonhepburn.org and click the “Foundation” tab at the top of the page. n LARRY ROBINSON is a Johnson Newspapers staff writer. Contact him at lrobinson@ogd. com or 393-1003.

August 2014 | NNY Business

| 35

JUSTIN SORENSEN | NNY BUSINESS

South Jefferson Physical Therapy co-owners Heather A. Miller and Joel H. Grimshaw began seeing patients this month at their new location in the former Lunman’s Furniture building on Route 11 in Adams. The expanded physical therapy center includes a full gym with exercise equipment and five patient rooms .

A new home for care

Adams location will accommodate more patients

By TED BOOKER

S

NNY Business

outh Jefferson Physical Therapy’s new home at 70 N. Main St. — roughly double the size of its old location — will provide much-needed space to serve patients.

The clinic, which relocated from Tops Friendly Markets plaza off Route 11 at the end of June, held a grand reopening Aug. 1 at its new headquarters. Previously Lunman’s Furniture and Appliance Center, the 8,640-square-foot building was bought for $250,000 in May from David H. Lunman by Joel H. Grimshaw and Heather A. Miller, co-owners of the clinic, who both hold doctorates in physical therapy.

The clinic occupies about half of the massive building, while the other half

36 | NNY Business | August 2014

is available for lease. Its newly renovated space includes a full-size gym with exercise equipment and five rooms for patients. Memberships are offered for $35 a month at the gym, which includes cardiovascular and weightlifting machines.

The clinic’s old space, by contrast, had three patient rooms and about half the amount of equipment, said Mr. Grimshaw, 41. That space, which opened in 2003, had limited the number of clients it could serve.

“Our business had grown the first five years after opening, and then it plateaued and has fluctuated,” said Mr. Grimshaw, a native of Henderson. “We would see between 140 to 160 total visits from patients a week, with some coming in multiple times. If we add another physical therapist here, I think we could

go to the 160-to-190 range.”

The clinic, which is staffed by six employees, plans to hire a third full-time physical therapist this year to join the owners, Mr. Grimshaw said. A licensed massage therapist, Tina M. Keck, has leased space at the clinic and will open her practice in August.

The clinic provides treatment for sportsrelated injuries, post-surgical rehabilitation, back and neck pain, balance problems and more. Patients who complete physical therapy programs can continue their exercise regimens by becoming members of the gym, Mr. Grimshaw said.

“We can go from start to finish with the physical therapy rehabilitation process, and when patients continue on their own in the gym they will get to keep exercise logs they get when they’re

H E A LTH CARE here. They can use the logs to continue their exercise programs.”

Improved visibility of the new location is also expected to be a boon, Mrs. Miller said.

“I think that in the last 11 years of being in business, some people didn’t even know that we were in the back of Adams in the plaza,” the 40-year-old Adams native said. “Now we can be seen very well from Route 11, and we’re still in Adams and serving the local community.”

Owners said the expanded space also could enable the clinic to add specialized practices, such as acupuncture and therapy for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

“We would also like to specialize in athletic training for sports programs at South Jefferson and Belleville-Henderson schools,” Mr. Grimshaw said.

The owners’ purchase of the building, which has operated as Lunman’s Furniture for 62 years, happened unexpectedly, Mr. Grimshaw said. Mr. Lunman, 58, was a physical therapy patient at the clinic in January. The topic emerged during one of his treatment sessions.

“When Tops took over the plaza from Big M, they told us they were looking to expand and wanted us to find a new location,” Mr. Grimshaw said. “We asked Dave if he had any space available to lease, and he said that every inch of it was used up. But he said he was thinking about retiring and might sell the building. We told him we needed a place by the summer, and he was willing to make the deal.”

To ensure a smooth transition, Mr. Lunman allowed the owners to do renovation work while he sold the store’s remaining inventory during the summer, Mr. Grimshaw said.

“He was instrumental for us getting down here, because we had to be out at the right time,” he said. “We made it happen by working together.”

To express their gratitude, the owners rewarded Mr. Lunman with a gift.

“We told him he has a lifetime gym membership here,” Mr. Grimshaw said.

The clinic is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Monday through Friday. n TED BOOKER is a Johnson Newspapers staff writer. Contact him at tbooker@wdt.net or 661-2371.

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Dr. Michael Maresca sits with an Automated Breast Volume Scanner, new breast cancer detection technology available at CantonPotsdam Hospital.

JASON HUNTER | NNY BUSINESS

New tech to fight cancer

Canton-Potsdam Hospital 3D ultrasound first in north country

By ALAN RIZZO

O NNY Business

ne in two. That’s about how many women today have dense tissue in their breasts. It’s also about how many are at risk for lifethreatening cancers nearly invisible to ultrasound technologists.

However, Automated Breast Volume Scanning, now available at CantonPotsdam Hospital — a first for the north country — will add a powerful tool in detecting cancers in women at risk.ABVS, which is a radiation-free 3D ultrasound,

38 | NNY Business | August 2014

will double the rate of cancer detection in dense breast tissue to seven in every 1,000 women.

“This, in my mind, was the answer that we were looking for,” said Dr. Michael Maresca, a radiologist.

In 2012, the hospital was mandated by the state to notify women if they had extremely dense breasts after a mammogram. That notification qualifies them for an ABVS scan.

Dr. Maresca said women are notified of dense breast tissue for three reasons: it makes cancers hard to find, it increases the risk they will be missed and dense tis-

sue cancers tend to be those that spread.

“The key to decreasing the mortality — to making it a curable disease — is early detection,” he said.

Though the percentage varies, typically four in five women age 40 and younger have dense tissue in their breasts.

Some factors affecting the percentage of dense tissue include pregnancy, diet, age and hormones, according to Joyce A. Foster, mammography coordinator.

In the north country, 40 percent of women have 75 percent or more dense tissue in their breasts, according to Mrs. Foster.

Stacie M. Woodward, director of imag-

H E ALT H C A R E

Hospital has new, faster CT fluoroscopy ith new live CT scanning technology, improvements are in sight for radiologists and patients at Canton-Potsdam Hospital. Staff at the hospital are now aided by CT fluoroscopy, technology that significantly reduces the time it takes to do difficult procedures.

Computed tomography fluoroscopy, a type of CT scan, essentially provides a live 3D X-ray of a radiologist’s needle as it moves through the body. The software is loaded onto a computer in the scanning room, which the radiologist can toggle on and off with a foot switch. “You can watch the needle live. That’s the big advantage,” radiologist G. Michael Maresca said. “You can watch yourself doing it.” Before CT fluoroscopy, Dr. Maresca had to move the needle a millimeter at a time for many centimeters, scanning before each move in a separate room. Though tedious, the

method was necessary to prevent puncturing vital systems during procedures.

“You want to make sure when you put that needle in, you’re not going towards a large vessel or an adjacent organ you don’t want to hit,” said Stacie M. Woodward, director of imaging and cardiology.

Procedures that incorporate CT scanning, known as interventions, used to take 30 to 60 minutes to perform. By eliminating the time-consuming back and forth of the old method, interventions can now take 15 minutes or less.

With such short times, the hospital is able to do three to seven a day.

“With this system now, we can do three separate biopsies of the liver in under a minute,” Dr. Maresca said.

Other procedures that CT fluoroscopy will improve include draining of abscesses, injections for joint pain, lung biopsies and lesion sampling to check for cancers.

Difficult procedures such as a cholecystostomy — which prepares the gall bladder for drainage — benefit greatly

from the real-time images the technology provides, allowing radiologists to probe and confidently puncture the gall bladder wall. “I would never have taken a poke like that without knowing,” Dr. Maresca said of a cholecystostomy he recently performed.

Being able to do procedures of varying difficulty quickly and accurately translates into fewer patient transfers, shorter hospital stays and lower costs, benefiting the hospital and its patients, Dr. Maresca said.

So far the outcomes have been good, with very few complications, according to Mrs. Woodward.

There is no additional cost to have a CT fluoroscopy procedure done.

Those concerned about whether or not they are eligible for procedures that use the technology should consult their doctor and insurance provider.

ing/cardiology, compared dense breast tissue to muddy water, which makes it difficult to locate malignancies.

“When women’s breast tissue turns from dense to fatty, it’s like taking that veil off of your eyes,” Mrs. Woodward said.

She stressed that recommending an ABVS scan means only that dense tissue is obscuring the view, not that a malignancy has been found.

She also said it’s an opportunity to educate patients, so that they know more about

the technology and what dense tissue is.

Nicole E. King, ultrasound technologist, said doing ultrasound scanning by hand is inconsistent, and if an area is missed or the transducer frequency is wrong, a section may go unreviewed by the radiologist.

Seven technologists have been trained to perform the scans, which will be done annually according to individual insurance plans.

“If you’re going to catch a cancer in a

dense-breasted woman, and you catch one in a 45 year old the years saved is huge,” Dr. Maresca said.

He is pushing to have the scanners in all 15 facilities in the St. Lawrence Health System.

“We would hope to have the whole corridor of Northern New York covered,” he said. “I hope they all have it soon.”

By ALAN RIZZO

W NNY Business

n ALAN RIZZO is a Johnson Newspapers staff writer. Contact him at arizzo@wdt.net or 661-2517.

n ALAN RIZZO is a Johnson Newspapers staff writer. Contact him at arizzo@wdt.net or 661-2517.

August 2014 | NNY Business

| 39

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FA MI LY B U SINES S

JASON HUNTER | NNY BUSINESS

Bonnie and Bruce LaRose with their grandson, David Troiano, at the Stonefence Resort in Ogdensburg. Mr. and Mrs. LaRose came out of retirement in July after eight years to take back ownership of the resort and train their grandson to manage it. The family has been restoring the 12-acre resort for three months.

Resort ‘a family affair’ Couple comes out of retirement to train new generation

By AMANDA PURCELL

W NNY Business

hen Bruce and Yvonne “Bonnie” LaRose, owners of the Stonefence Resort, retired from the business in 2005, they never anticipated they would buy it back eight years later.

But for the past three months, the couple has been restoring the 12-acre

42 | NNY Business | August 2014

resort at 7191 Route 37 and training a new generation of hotel owners. When the couple first bought the motel in 1985, it was a small roadside 12-unit motel run by George and Carol Erwin. The LaRoses lived next door in a white house that is now known as the Manor House on the resort. The Erwins approached the couple to ask if they would want to take over ownership of the motel.

“I remember it was a little rundown and had a man in a sombrero and a cac-

tus on the roof blinking in neon lights,” Mrs. LaRose said. “It was kind of a like a joke at the time: ‘What would we want with that motel?’”

Eventually, the LaRoses acquiesced and began to fix up the motel. There was one color television and one air-conditioning unit between the 12-units. The husband-and-wife team worked hard to fix up the property. They started out renting rooms at $27 per night.

“We liked it right away. We enjoyed

FA M I LY BUS INES S it,” Mr. LaRrose said. “It was profitable.

We started right away with such good business that we started building and adding on.”

Mr. LaRose eventually drew up his own plans to add extended-stay townhouses behind the motel. Eventually, a front lobby, a marina, a tennis court and a restaurant were added. The pool was moved to the back. Another extendedstay unit by the river was built and completed in 1992.

While Mr. LaRose worked for St. Lawrence County as director of data processing in Canton, Mrs. LaRose managed the hotel.

“Bonnie built the business, and she worked very hard at it,” Mr. LaRose said. “She was excellent with customers. She was in the office almost all of the time for at least 12 hours a day. She didn’t mind it that much because she enjoyed the customers. We still have customers who come back even though we have been out of it for eight years who ask for Bonnie. I am sure we are going to have them coming back once they find out she is involved in it again.”

The Stonefence Resort got its name from the thousands of feet of meticulously manicured stone fence that surround the property. The fences were built by the late stone-wall builder Erwin K. Quigley.

“A lot of the stone comes from when we dug foundations for the buildings,” Mr. LaRose said. “We had to do something with it, so we built fences. He didn’t build it all at once. It took nearly 10 years. Each year he would build a little more. We never dreamed we would build as much fence as we did.”

Mr. LaRose said he is training his grandson, David Troiano, 20, to become general manager of the hotel one day.

“He is spending his time learning how to run it,” Mr. LaRose said. “He is a people person, and he has some ideas on what he likes to see done.”

Several other family members also have joined the family business, Mrs. LaRose said.

“It’s not just David,” she said. “His mother, Beth, is also helping. Our grand-

Please see Resort, page 45

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W

ashington Summit is not even 10 years old yet, and already it has become Northern New York’s premiere medical and professional development. It has grown from one building to a mixture of seven buildings, 14 practices, the setting for the new Samaritan Summit Village, and home to approximately 500 employees.

An age-old adage in successful real estate development is location, location, location, and Washington Summit has proven that over and over again with its tremendous growth, and in the value of its properties. Michael E. Lundy, managing partner of Washington Summit Associates, explained: “We have seen our growth because of our location, recognizing the benefits of being near other practices, the modern, energy-efficient buildings, the parking and access to town roads, along with the convenience of the hospital. We’ve also seen another type of growth in the considerable increase in dollar value of the practice as property owners are seeing a significant return on their investment.

Scott H. Gillette, co-owner of Northern New York Appraisal 44 | NNY Business | August 2014

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Services LLC, further discusses the concept of “value” and Washington Summit. “Over the years, Washington Street has become the medical corridor for the area and that has resulted in an increasing demand and increased market rental rates for medical and professional office space and property, especially premiere developments like Washington Summit. Clients are looking for new, modern, energy-efficient, cost-effective space as opposed to renovating older existing space. As a result of this demand and growth we have seen the value of office space and building lots significantly increase. And, for the most part, rental rates have increased at a higher rate than construction costs, which, from a developer’s standpoint, is a very favorable situation.

Mark Bellinger, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Watertown Savings Bank, added: “Shovel-ready sites, such as the sites available in the Washington Summit development, remain one of the most effective site marketing tools for development professionals desiring to create a competitive advantage. Shovel-ready sites confirm readiness to a point that creates a benefit in the site-selection process

and access to these sites presents a unique screening advantage that, from a commercial lending standpoint, reduces overall site location risk, saves time, and reduces overall site development costs.”

Mr. Lundy added: “Many times I have seen where a prospective customer goes to a poor location because the cost of the land is cheaper, only to spend significantly more money to make the site ready for utilities and construction. Although sometimes going to another location can seem less expensive upfront, years down the road when someone goes to sell the building, it has either depreciated in value or has not appreciated in the same manner a building at a more suitable location such as Washington Summit has proven to do so time and time again.”

Mr. Lundy concluded by welcoming the latest additions to Washington Summit: Rubenzahl, Knudsen & Associates, Psychological Services, and Dr. Jill Laureano-Surber, Family Medicine Center.

Contact Michael E. Lundy at (315) 493-2493, for more information about Washington Summit.

FAMILY BU S I NE S S RESORT, from page 43 daughters will help with the housekeeping and computer work. Jack, our 13-year-old grandson, does all of the grass cutting. It truly is a family affair.

We wouldn’t think of doing this again without them.”

In the past three months, Mr. LaRose said, he has been working with his grandson to renovate the townhouses and restore several rooms after a fire destroyed a portion of the motel in

“

than what it used to be.”

Despite the changing times, Mrs. LaRose said, customer service is still Stonefence’s top priority.

“I never could stand it when a customer would complain,” Mrs. LaRose said. “That was my biggest thing. I couldn’t stand not having everything pleasing to people. That is what we are aiming for again — satisfied customers.”

The couple said they hope to once again make the resort a destination, not just another roadside motel.

“Ogdensburg is centrally located to Ottawa, Lake Placid, Montreal and the Thousand Islands,” Mr. LaRose said.

“The St. Lawrence is a pretty good attraction all by itself. For years we had a family who came for a few weeks just for Muskie fishing. I always tell people this is the best place on the St. Lawrence River.” n AMANDA PURCELL is a Johnson Newspapers staff writer based in Ogdensburg. Contact her at apurcell@ogd.com or 393-1003, extension 104.

It truly is a family affair.

We wouldn’t think of doing this again without them.

— Bonnie LaRose, owner, the Stonefence Resort, Ogdensburg

February. He said there are no plans currently to expand the resort. The resort’s restaurant, The Dining Room, which was heavily damaged by smoke, will remain closed for the time being.

“We just want to get the hotel back in order and build our customer base up again,” Mr. LaRose said. “Bonnie and I very much enjoy the motel. We enjoyed the customers. We had a lot of repeat business, which we value very much.

Probably close to 40 percent of our business was goodwill, repeat business.

We enjoyed having repeat business and having our customers come back. It got to be more like a family then.”

Mrs. LaRose said that with the bulk of reservations made through the Internet, business has changed dramatically over the years.

“When we owned it we tried really hard to be a three-diamond, AAArated resort motel and that was what helped our business back in those days before there were reviews on the Internet,” she said. “We also used to have the customers settle their bill when they checked out so we could greet them that morning. We enjoyed that. Now they leave anytime they want to leave. That’s really different

August 2014 | NNY Business

| 45

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RE AL E STAT E RO U ND UP

Fort Drum’s impact on real estate

T

he news has been full of reports of the potential loss of 16,000 soldiers and civilians at Fort Drum. The economic impact of this would be devastating. A look back over the past 30 years shows the impact the military has had on north country real estate.

On Feb. 13, 1985, the 10th Mountain Division was reactivated. In 1984, members of the Jefferson-Lewis Board of Realtor’s Multiple Listing Service sold 343 residential units with a median sale price of $32,500. Sales in 1985 increased 38 percent to 474 units with a median price of $38,000, up 17 percent. The dollar volume was up 56 percent or $7 million year-toyear to $19.6 million.

If we fast forward to 1994, 10 years after the initial “boom,” we find that there were 623 residential units sold that year with a total dollar volume of more than $42.5 million. During this time, many soldiers and their families were housed on Fort Drum or in the 2,000 units of Section 801 housing off base in various north country communities.

Things stayed relatively steady until 2004. About that time, many of the Army’s 20-year non-renewable leases on its 801 housing were expiring. In addition, the post was in the process of privatizing base housing, and, that September, the 3rd Brigade Combat Team was activated at Fort Drum. This caused a “perfect storm” for real estate in the area for the next several years. The activation of the 3rd BCT caused a shortage of rental properties



in the area with some families renting as far away as Syracuse.

The situation did help to boost home sales. In 2003, 930 units were sold with a median price of Lance Evans $68,000. In 2004, this climbed to 1,340 units with a median price of $76,000 and to 1,537 units and a median price of $89,700 in 2005. While 2005 represented a peak in the number of units, the median price has steadily increased. By 2009, the median was $129,250 on sales of 1,036 units. It should be noted that this was in the middle of the Great Recession when home prices were tumbling and foreclosure rates were climbing in other parts of the country. Having Fort Drum kept us relatively unscathed.

This has continued. In 2013, there were 1,110 units sold with a median price of $141,000 and more than $170 million in sales. So far for the first six months of 2014, 474 units have sold (about the same as the first six months of 2013) with a median price of $129,600. The number of units is almost equal to the number sold in all of 1985.

Obviously, Fort Drum has had a huge impact on our area. While not all home sales over the years are directly tied to Fort Drum’s expansion, a good number

are. For instance, VA loans, available to most veterans and active duty personnel, make up about one-third of all loans used to buy real estate. Many other sales are attributable to an improved economy brought on by Fort Drum.

Reducing the number of troops at Fort Drum will certainly hurt the whole area, not just the real estate sector. There is a petition online at Drum2025.com that I urge you to sign. Fort Drum and the 10th Mountain Division are assets we don’t want to lose. n

n n

Janet Handschuh, Heart Homes Real Estate, Hammond, attended the annual Women’s Council of Realtors Leadership Academy held early in August in Chicago. Ms. Handschuh will be the 2015 president of the WCR’s Tri-County New York Chapter.

The primary focus of the conference is to prepare incoming chapter presidents and regional vice presidents for their year ahead by providing them with tools to build an effective leadership team, communicate the value of the WCR and develop and implement association-branded programs, among other chapter management skills. They are also given a chance to build their businesses by networking with hundreds of WCR leaders from across the country. n LANCE M. EVANS is the executive officer of the Jefferson-Lewis Board of Realtors and the St. Lawrence County Board of Realtors. He has lived in the north country since 1985. Contact him at levans@nnymls.com. His column appears monthly in NNY Business.

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Phone: 315.786.3494 Fax: 315.786.3495 email: don@watertownldc.com August 2014 | NNY Business

| 47

RE AL E STATE

JUSTIN SORENSEN | NNY BUSINESS

Larry F. Stinson, seen at his business Tug Edge Outdoor & More in Adams in 2010, sold about 1,070 acres of farmland for $4.2 million last month.

Farmland tops $4m South Jeff real estate deal: Buyers to keep it agricultural

By TED BOOKER

F

NNY Business

ormer dairy farmer Larry F. Stinson has sold more than 1,000 acres of farmland in Adams, Ellisburg and Lorraine for $4.2 million, according to Jefferson County property records.

The farmland, owned by the Adams resident since 1976, went for about $3,925 per acre to Eastman Farms, a large dairy operation with 1,200 head of cattle at 10798 Route 193 in Ellisburg. Mr. Stinson, who owns Tug Edge Outdoor & More in Adams and Pulaski, operated an 800-cow dairy

48 | NNY Business | August 2014

operation until 2008 at his farm off County Route 189 in the town of Lorraine, which formerly was named Tug Edge Dairy.

He sold his cattle in 2008 to Todd R. Hyman and Gerald M. Stockman, who leased the farm’s milking facility from Mr. Stinson until they sold the cattle this year. Mr. Stinson continued to harvest corn and hay on the 1,070 acres to serve the dairy operation until this spring, when he decided to sell the property. The sale occurred Friday.

“They had an opportunity to sell the cows at a good price, and so I decided to put the farm up for sale,” Mr. Stinson said. “I don’t have any kids who wanted to keep it going.”

Partners of Eastman Farms, meanwhile, have not yet decided whether to launch a dairy operation at the vacated facility but have put farmland into production.

Demand for tillable farmland has skyrocketed across the county over the past five years, said Mr. Stinson, who estimated his property would have sold for about “one-third less” five years go. He said he received four purchase offers for the land, including two from farms based in Central New York. The land’s deep, well-drained soil made it a highly prized commodity.

“Right now land is in high demand in Jefferson County,” he said. “I think it’s good, because when I started farming we

R E AL ES TATE weren’t considered a very good crop area in New York state. I think it’s an excellent crop area, and we’re starting to get to the point where we should be.”

Mr. Stinson said the lucrative property sale enabled him to open a second location for his outdoor power equipment business,

“

Right now land is in high demand in Jefferson County.

It’s an excellent crop area and we’re starting to get to the point where we should be.

— Larry F. Stinson, former owner,

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“I probably wouldn’t have opened the location if I didn’t sell the land,” he said.

Charles L. Eastman, who co-owns Eastman Farms with brothers Timothy G. and Steven J., said corn and hay crops on the farmland were put into production this spring. He said the vacated dairy facility in Lorraine eventually could be relaunched to expand the farm’s cattle herd, but plans have not yet been made.

“It’s undecided whether we’re going to milk there or not, but it’s going to remain agricultural land and be a farm,” he said.

Mr. Eastman declined to provide further information about the farm’s plan to expand operations. n TED BOOKER is a Johnson Newspapers staff writer. Contact him at tbooker@wdt.net or 661-2371.

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RE AL E STATE / TOP TRANS AC T IO N S Top 10 property sales by price recorded in the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office in June 2014:

Barton, Rockford, Ala., sold to Jason DeGenaro and Gregory DeGenaro, Branford, Conn.

$1,395,000: June 16, Town of Leray: 1.338 acres, Route 11, Lundy Development & Property Manager, Carthage, sold to Autozone Northeast Inc. Memphis, Tenn.

$432,500: June 2, Town of Henderson: 0.95 acres, Cedar Cove, James Briggs and Mary Lou Briggs, Williamstown, Mass., sold to Courtney Wilson and Lindsay W. Wilson, Manlius

$1,275,000: June 3, City of Watertown: No acreage, 1081 Arsenal St., Patricia Perrin as trustee for Rachel E. Nichols Trust, Lakewood, Colo., sold Elliott A. Scott, San Diego, Calif., and Steven Ross, as trustees for Scott Family Trust

$406,000: June 10, Town of Alexandria: 0.5 acres, St. Lawrence Park Road, Kenneth J. Buck and Valerie Lynne Buck, Hammond, sold to Bruce W. Benedict and Deborah R. Benedict, Merritt Island, Fla.

$1,179,650: June 17, Town of Henderson: 11.3 acres, state Route 3, Rita G LLC, Henderson, sold to Willows On The Lake RV Park Resort, Henderson Harbor

$381,649: June 2, Town of Watertown: 1.97 acres, Fox Ridge Road, Seetharaman Ashok and Vinit K. Ashok, as trustees for Ashok Family Revocable Living Trust, Hanaford, Calif., sold to Anthony R. Surber and Jill M. Surber, Carthage

$695,000: June 25, Town of Clayton: No acreage, state Route 12E, Ronald J. Cooper, St. Pete Beach, Fla., sold to Denise A. Miller, Lawrence J. Williams, Nicholas O. Williams and Jack B. Capron, as co-trustees of the Doreen A. Marks Irrevocable Realty Trust, Chaumont $590,000: June 25, Town of Brownville: 8.23 acres, County Route 59, Richard R. Bucci and Marlene E. Bucci, Naples, Fla., sold to Edward G. Tyler and Barbara D. Tyler, Rome, and Kimberly Tyler, Rome $523,500: June 13, Town of Henderson: 1.41 acres, 6665 White’s Bay Road South, Lesley Teitelbaum, Fayetteville, as trustee for Charles Teitelbaum Irrevocable Trust, sold to Teitelbaum Family Camp, Fayetteville $495,000: June 2, Town of Lyme: 308.01 acres, Swamp Road, Howard V. Barton and Elizabeth A.

Top 10 property sales by price recorded in the St. Lawrence County Clerk’s Office in June 2014: $430,000: June 30, Town of Pierrepont: Unknown acres, in Lot 18, known as River Woods Estates, Katie Keed Hon, Potsdam, sold to Connie A. Trainer, Colton $270,000: June 4, Village of Canton: 0.620 of an acre more or less, bounded by College and Elm streets, Aurthur and Mary Beth Clark, Canton, sold to Andrew W. and Julie M. Silver, Canton $268,000: June 9, Town of Potsdam: 4.207 acres more or less, in Mile Square Lot 26, bounded by state Route 345, Ronald F. and Suzanne L. Charette, Peru, sold to Timothy P. and Verena P. Jones, Clayton $250,000: June 10, Village of Potsdam: Two

parcels, 1) 1.92 acres more or less, and 2) 1.56 acres more or less, both in Mile Square 47, bounded by Elderkin Street, John B. Savage Jr., Potsdam, sold to Frederic D. Seifer, Shelbyville, Tenn. $250,000: June 3, Town of DeKalb: Unknown parcels, unknown acres, bounded by Asa Sprague Farm and Canton Plank Road, Ronald E. Williams, DeKalb Junction, sold to Allen H. and Mary W. Kelly, Rensselaer Falls $248,500: June 16, Town of Hammond: 3.38 acres more or less, bounded by Camp Road, Khalil Kardooni and Shahander Haghir, Watertown, sold to James Curtis Higginson, Almonte, Ontario $240,000: June 18, Town of Pierrepont: 1 acre more or less, bounded by the South Shore of the Racquette River, Jennifer W. Nye, Potsdam, sold to Walter J. Sokac Jr. and Janis M. Sokac, Hermitage, Pa. $230,000: June 4, Town of DePeyster: 104 acres more or less, in Lot 89, bounded by Beaver Creek, Daniel A. and Candace Cookes, Rensselaer Falls, sold to Joseph A. and Lizzie L. Weaver, Rensselaer Falls $220,000: June 27, Town of Lisbon: 3 Parcels, unknown acres, bounded by Route 37, Scott Love and Jacqueline Cole, Lisbon, sold to Wright D. and Christiana H. Novan, Charleston, N.H. $220,000: June 30, Village of Potsdam: 46/100 of an acre more or less, Parcel 2) Unknown acres, bounded by Harrington Court and Main Street, Alan J. and Rachelle Romoda, Potsdam, sold to Johannes H. Dulfer and Avery F. Marzulla-Dulfer, Potsdam Top 10 property sales by price recorded in the Lewis County Clerk’s Office in April 2014: $169,000: April 10, Town of Denmark: 10745 Limburg Forks Road, James H. Hicks, sold to Marcus A. Wuerschmidt $156,500: April 10, Town of Leyden: 3668 Davis Bridge Road, Browns Metal Mods LLC, sold to the Bolich Irrevocable Trust $140,000: April 15, Town of Montague: Pitcher Road, Todd Bowman, sold to John Northrup $130,000: April 15, Town of Watson: 6832 Pine Grove Road, Corner Corral LLC, sold to Kenneth J. Boshart $106,000: April 18, Town of Lyonsdale: 3488 Brownville Road, Lucas H. Norton, sold to Jeremy W. Hastwell $70,000: April 4, Town of Watson: 8828 Buck Point Road, Thomas P. Turck Jr., sold to Thomas P. Turck $65,500: April 4, Town of Watson: 6707 Camp Road, the Wengert Irrevocable Trust, sold to Charles H. Allen $65,000: April 17, Village of Lyons Falls: 4107 Cherry St., Rob Dougherty, sold to Linda A. Lawton $58,000: April 7, Town of Croghan: 9566 Main St., Wayne Ortlieb, sold to Donald J. Campany $50,000: April 16, Village of Harrisville: 14397 Maple St., Lori J. Kobylanski, sold to Scott A. Cleveland

50 | NNY Business | August 2014

RE AL ES TAT E

Home market posts gains in Q2

By TED BOOKER

F

NNY Business

ollowing a sharp first quarter decline, home sales in Jefferson County recovered during the second quarter.

Compared with a year ago, second-quarter home sales in Jefferson County edged up by 2 percent, or four units, from 204 to 208, according to the Jefferson-Lewis Board of Realtors. Those figures are much improved from the first quarter, when sales dropped by 27 percent, or 35 units, from 165 to 130 compared with the previous year.Sales during the second quarter in Lewis County increased by 14 percent, or five units, from a year ago. St. Lawrence County home sales decreased by 4 percent, or five units, from 131 to 126, according to that county’s Board of Realtors.

About 325 Realtors are members of the Jefferson-Lewis board, while the St. Lawrence board has about 170.

Lance M. Evans, executive director of the Jefferson-Lewis and St. Lawrence County boards, said the prolonged winter had a negative impact on firstquarter sales.

“The market has recovered and come back to normal in Jefferson County” during the second quarter, Mr. Evans said.

“Sales could increase through the rest of the year, but I don’t think they will be better than 2013. We were so far down in the first quarter — by 35 sales in Jefferson County — and a bunch of that was caused by the long winter.”

Sales through the first half of the year, from January through June, still are

Number sold up in Jefferson, Lewis counties Median home sale prices n Despite gains in units sold, median sale prices in the second quarter declined in Jefferson and Lewis counties from a year ago, while St. Lawrence County saw an increase.

JEFFERSON: $145,000 — down 11% LEWIS: $111,000 — down 12% ST. LAWRENCE: $95,500 — up 29%

significantly down in Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties due to the unusually low first-quarter numbers. In Jefferson County, sales are down by 9 percent, or 31 units, from 371 to 340 over the six-month period; in St. Lawrence County, they are down by 13 percent, or 29 units, from 228 to 199. Lewis County has bucked that trend, however, as sales are up by 17 percent, or 11 units, from 65 to 76 over the same period.

The influx of new rental housing complexes in the Watertown area is another factor that has contributed to lower overall home sales this year in Jefferson County, Mr. Evans said. He said the uncertainty of potential troop cuts at Fort Drum has made it more practical, in some cases, for military families to rent apartments rather than buy homes.

“I think there is some uncertainty on the military side,” he said. If the Army “is going to drop (thousands) of soldiers, then I would want to rent if I were a soldier because there is more flexibility. If you own a home, you have to sell it when you leave.”

Second-quarter median home prices

fell compared with those of a year ago in Jefferson and Lewis counties. The median was down by 11 percent, or $17,250, from $162,250 to $145,000 in Jefferson County. In Lewis County, the median fell by 12 percent, or $15,750, from $126,750 to $111,000. In St. Lawrence County, the median increased by $21,500, or 29 percent, from $74,000 to $95,500, over the same period.

Statewide, home sales decreased during the second quarter by 7.7 percent, or 2,081 units, from 26,890 to 24,809, compared with a year ago, according to the New York State Association of Realtors. The second-quarter statewide median sales price was $225,000, down 2.2 percent, or $5,000, from the 2013 second-quarter median of $220,000.

A total of 44,085 homes were sold in the first half of 2014, down 4.3 percent from the same period in 2013.

“As we take the pulse of the housing market at the half-way point of 2014, New York’s REALTORS find it holding steady and poised to beat stronger as we enter the typically busy summer months,” said Duncan MacKenzie, NYSAR CEO, in a quoted statement. “The combination of the severe winter and low inventory held the housing market back early on, but we are now seeing an upward trend in both pending sales and new listings coming to the market as we closed out June.”

n TED BOOKER is a Johnson Newspapers staff writer. Contact him at tbooker@wdt.net or 661-2371.

August 2014 | NNY Business

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20 QU E ST I ONS

The front line of reform

KEN EYSAMAN | NNY BUSINESS

I

n December, New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Nirav R. Shah announced the creation of the North Country Health System Redesign Commission. Dr. Shah charged a panel of 19 professionals with providing recommendations to create a viable system of long-term care services for communities across the north country. Dr. John Rugge, executive director and founding physician of Hudson Headwaters Health Network, served as the commission’s co-vice chairman. As a practicing clinician, he is at the front of rural health reform. We traveled to Queensbury to get his perspective on rural health care and the challenges that north country institutions face.

1

NNYB: How did Hudson Headwaters Health Network come to be?

DR. RUGGE: I came to Chestertown in 1974 with a plan to stay for six months, but it didn’t work out. It came at a time when the mode of practice was general practitioners in each town and, as they began to decamp and retire, I found myself practicing and unable to leave because how do you leave when communities have so many needs?

We started one center but it was losing money. It was under the auspices of Glens Falls Hospital.

We stumbled across the community health center program started in the mid-1960s by President Johnson. At the same time Medicaid and Medicare were also started. Essentially they were to assist communities with very high need. We applied for a federal grant that was expected to be a threeyear grant but, 35 years later, they’re still in that program and growing strong.

2 3

NNYB: How many clinics do you operate?

DR. RUGGE: We have 16 health centers now.

We have 155 providers and a total staff of about 685 at the moment.

NNYB: How did you get involved with the North Country Health System Redesign Commission?

DR. RUGGE: I got to know some people in Albany way back when who were looking at health care needs around the state. I became the token country doctor on one or another advisory panel and most recently have been serving in a number of capacities, including the New York State Public Health and Planning Council.

52 | NNY Business | August 2014

n Dr. John Rugge sees reasons for optimism despite challenges in care

4

NNYB: How did the commission come about?

DR. RUGGE: We started in November 2013. This is Gov. Cuomo’s pace. It was also based upon any number of health care organizations that are in fiscal trouble and in jeopardy of losing their grip on their organizational life. In addition, it was anticipated that, at some point in the new fiscal year, we had the prospect of a multi-billion dollar federal investment in New York for health system transformation from the federal Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services. In anticipation of that, the commission was established to identify priorities for the north country. That investment has come to pass in the amount of 8 billion dollars over the coming five years. But everything is predicated on the idea that we can do a better job of becoming more efficient with lower costs and higher quality care than what we’ve enjoyed up till now.

5

NNYB: How has the delivery of care changed?

DR. RUGGE: There’s a renewed focus on prevention and an understanding that we have ways to prevent illness that were simply unavailable years ago. Polio comes to mind. Diabetes comes to mind as a disease that now is largely preventable with exercise and diet. Yet, another dynamic is that so much of the care that we now do in the office and community settings was considered very high tech and could only be given in institutional settings. So there’s a huge shift in the kind of care we give and where we give the care.

6

NNYB: What is the outlook and way forward for care in the north country?

DR. RUGGE: I think there’s good reason for confidence. This is from national data. The number of people with strokes is going down and it’s not because in any one town or facility we’re doing something new, but because the science is better.

We have new medications, new understandings of how to use those approaches and a new and different relationship with our patients in terms of

all the other things beyond medicines and services we can do. That direction is good, and now we just have to build upon it to make sure that for the next generation we have the right doctors in the right place and the right tools including high-tech machinery and the hospitals we need.

7

NNYB: How are health providers affected by the commission’s findings?

DR. RUGGE: What the commission recognized is a matter of record. There are financial stresses and many hospitals, nursing homes and physician practices are losing money. We are recommending that if those facilities and organizations take steps that may hurt them even more, because in the short run it will only accelerate the loss by adapting to the changes, then by forming essential care networks, they should be so recognized.

With the investment fund coming from Washington we have the ability to draw upon those funds to make those transitions successful. But it does mean affiliating and coordinating services more and differently than what we’ve done untill now. That certainly includes full corporate mergers, but it also allows us to be more creative in the affiliations we match, and find other ways to partner and retain as much community autonomy as we can.

8

NNYB: How will new models of care affect traditional hospitals?

DR. RUGGE: What we came to understand through the commission is that providers are going to come together and work more closely as integrated systems of care. So there will be transformations in the services that those facilities provide.

So it does have implications for brick-and-mortar organizations coming together in new ways. But the drive here is to transform those organizations, not to eliminate them. The challenge is how to do that when many are already financially stressed.

At least a part of the answer is $8 billion coming from Washington to help New York, and in

2 0 Q U E S T I O NS these next few years to use those dollars as best we can to make those organizations as effective as they can be in a new era.

Dr. John Rugge, executive director of the Hudson Headwaters Health Network, Queensbury, examines a patient in this 2012 file photo. Dr. Rugge served as co-vice chairman of the recent North Country Health Systems Redesign Commission

9

NNYB: How is the role of practitioners changing?

DR. RUGGE: It’s really reconceiving the role of physicians from being the one person with the expertise to deal with a diagnosis or treatment to becoming a member and leader of team of practitioners who all have contributions to make.

When I was in medical training, I was taught to never trust another person’s diagnosis. Start all over again. But now we know we can’t do that.

We rely on our nurses and physician assistants and for sure there’s monitoring and assessing and interaction with those other practitioners. So the rule is changing; that in itself is the big change but one that is manageable, doable and necessary.

10

NNYB: What immediate needs do we have in health care in Northern New York?

DR. RUGGE: We need more doctors. We have to make our settings really attractive, find ways we can make their earning potential equal. It will also help to train our own. We need to find local people who are interested in medicine, then develop our own training programs in our own facilities so these people are more likely to stay in the north country.

11

NNYB: Is it possible to limit the government’s hand in health care?

DR. RUGGE: Just about half the dollars going into health care come from government; some from Washington, some from Albany and some from our local counties through Medicaid. There’s absolutely no prospect of government simply getting out of health care when it’s already accounting for half of it. The VA programs are government and so are Medicare and Medicaid. Obamacare is a government initiative largely meant to build upon the private insurance system and to use commercial payers to work in concert with government programs so we have a hybrid system. When it comes to governing and legislating then acting, it’s going to be in a nuanced way that means we’ve got to improve on what we’re already doing, and nobody can disagree with that. We have to do that beyond the rhetoric. There’s no way in which any one person or group in one year can fix almost 20 percent of our annual national income.

12

NNYB: What contributes to the high cost of care and how did we get where we are today?

DR. RUGGE: This probably dates back to a couple things. One is the fact that health care has become so incredibly expensive. Some procedures — and now even some prescriptions — are out of reach of the ordinary pocketbook. Then we have the historic anomaly of WWII with price freezes having been imposed for the sake of the war effort. The only way companies could compete for employers was enhanced benefit packages that included commercial insurance. The initial development of health insurance during the Depression became the national norm in the ’40s. Those two dynamics led to the separation of the payer and the consumer. The complexity of health care providers billing third parties and disconnecting the finances from the consumer and the cost they’re incurring has led to a morass

PHOTO COURTESY THE POST-STAR

The Dr. John Rugge file AGE: 69 JOB: Executive director and founding physician, Hudson Headwaters Health Network, Queensbury; co-vice chairman, North Country Health Syatem Redesign Commission FAMILY: Wife, Victoria Palermo; son, Bruin Rugge, and daughter, Maile Munson.

HOMETOWN: Mohawk Valley, Little Falls; lives in Queensbury EDUCATION: Williams College undergraduate; Harvard Divinity School, three years; Yale Medical School; post-graduate residency in Albany.

SPECIALTY: Board-certified in family medicine LAST BOOK READ: “Lucky Us” by Amy Bloom and we’re trying to fight our way out of it.

13

NNYB: Are we likely to ever have a single-payer system in America?

DR. RUGGE: No. I think we in the U.S. like everywhere else build upon our own experience.

We’ve not lived that life; not approached that.

It doesn’t match our own social expectations of choice. We have to find a way to work with the multiplicity of payers but have better coordination of services and care. I think that in some respects this is especially difficult in upstate New York.

14

NNYB: How are health networks affecting care in the north country?

DR. RUGGE: The most common problem we have is a lack of primary care physicians. Without those, everything else falls apart. That led to a pilot program and a way to provide care that was working together in new ways to deliver services to communities of people. So even though a small practice couldn’t afford a nutritionist or patient navigator, they could if they were sharing services.

They’re showing good results in terms of bringing more physicians back to this area, improving access to care and, by most reports, actually saving money. And this is from working cooperatively, not in a single building but across the territory.

So we’re living this out and are learning from our mistakes and on a path of rapid change that will largely improve outcomes.

15

NNYB: How do we retain jobs in health care?

DR. RUGGE: It’s important to remember that health care is one of the few industries where we’re not going to be shipping jobs overseas or, for that matter, out of the community. This is a high-touch field and one that is labor intensive and requires very skilled people whether in the hospital setting, the nursing home setting, a doctor’s office or riding the ambulance. We need highly skilled people and we need them in the same kind of numbers we have now, but we will see a shift from inpatient to ambulatory care. We have more hospital beds and fewer physicians within any other region of the state. But we also have more physicians practicing in hospital clinics. So hospitals are already converting from inpatient to ambulatory care centers. The RN who used to be a manager of a floor will now manage an ambulatory care center that provides the same high-quality care to the same community members, but in a different location. That by itself is a reason for concern, care and planning, but not a cause for panic.

16

NNYB: How do the commission’s findings affect the north country and its residents?

DR. RUGGE: There is an understanding that no one from the outside can suddenly make certain determinations. This is a reality check; a call to reality. What we need to know is that a from community and regional perspective, we must work together to reach these understandings. The report goes to the organization itself, to the administrators and physicians and also to the boards. They need to understand what they’re facing by way of alternative choices. It can be affiliation or oblivion in some cases. That’s not a reality that this commission created, but is only trying to highlight.

17

NNYB: How do we break through the old silo mentality to deliver more cooperative care?

DR. RUGGE: We have a real paradox and imperative. Even more than for a hospital stay, it’s unconscionable to take a frail person of any age who needs a nursing home residence and remove that person from their family by 100 miles. We shouldn’t be doing that. And yet the paradox is that in a sparsely populated area, we can’t find enough patients in any local area to fill a nursing home to achieve a financially viable scale. The only way to do that is to create a special care August 2014 | NNY Business

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20 QU E ST I ONS campus where we’re aggregating organizations across base, but not removing beds from a given community, then combining types of care under one organization. So the skilled nursing facility is also providing daycare, respite care and assisted living and getting to scale, perhaps across communities. There are a few pilot programs in the works, perhaps in part because of the commission. But we also have to prove to government that this is the kind of change that entails a government response and, specifically, new payment methodologies so that all this is possible. It’s not possible when you have a separate revenue stream for services where they can’t be combined into a coherent program. This is a way in which the silos among government programs are impeding

what we need in our communities. And it’s up to us to show government how to do it better. The commission was the start of us saying that this is the landscape and these are the needs. Now we need the local programs and programmers to show government how to do it.

18

NNYB: What effect has Obamacare had so far on health care in the north country?

DR. RUGGE: I think Obamacare was the only first step we had. It’s the step we’ve taken and now we need to figure out the next best step to take forward. I think the world is changing too fast and is too complex for me to know if it was right or wrong, but it’s there. It clearly has had its computer problems. It certainly has had some unexpected

side effects in terms of people losing insurance and rates going up that they had no reason to expect.

The part that’s gotten the most press is the insurance stuff but there are also many other features of Obamacare that can be easily overlooked in part because it’s so complex. We have a new health center going up in Warrensburg that is a $10 million project, half of which came from funds from Obamacare. It’s looking at a needy community and inserting a capital investment that is very important to the local community and surrounding towns.

In addition, there are all kinds of other reforms within Obamacare to encourage providers to work together and become more effective.

19

NNYB: What are the biggest challenges the north country still faces in health care?

DR. RUGGE: Change is scary and change that affect people’s jobs and health and ability to survive an illness is especially scary. It’s a triple threat. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be scared but we have to work through our fear and do the best possible job with what we have. And we have to face some realities. We need to decrease the utilization on the inpatient side and increase the ambulatory side. We need to increase the investment fund to help us make the transition, and a willingness in state government to take a close look at what’s special about the north country; the fact that we are so dispersed, have too few physicians and primary care practitioners especially, and that we have an overhang of overbuilt facilities that need to be reorganized. We also we have a special culture. The last thing we have in the north country is a welfare mentality. We don’t have people looking to others for help or to the government so they can take it easy. The people I see are amazingly resilient and hard-working and want to find their own solutions. Wanting to be self-sufficient is something we can all be proud of.

20

NNYB: What have you learned on this journey?

151 Mullin Street Watertown, NY 13601

DR. RUGGE: I think the most important thing we’ve had has been amazing community support.

It was born out of a crisis when physicians were all leaving. These little towns I eventually figured out had been mostly served by Jewish doctors fleeing Hitler’s Germany. And, as they all came at the same time, they also left at the same time, around the mid1970s. There was a pathologist in Glens Falls who had ties to the Jewish refugee service they would call up as refugees entered Ellis Island and told to put this person here or there. Faced with a huge crisis for our smaller areas, it appeared there would be nothing. The local town decided they would support all this by providing facilities. What started it for us was a common perception of local need and people willing to work together and dedicate their local government to the initiative. That’s what made all this possible. We could attract physicians because it was so important for them to be here. This was not a place to earn top dollar. But by practicing here, it would make a difference. If they didn’t come, there would be a hole that couldn’t otherwise be filled.

The culture that you have on the western slope is the same rural culture that we have. If we have a common need, we will work together to fill that need even though we want to remain rugged individuals.

I think the prospects are good.

— Interview by Ken Eysaman. Edited for length and clarity to fit this space.

54 | NNY Business | August 2014

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| 55

EC ON OMI CALLY S PEAKIN G

The art of structuring a good deal

I

n economic development, it’s our job to work with business owners to structure their financing needs.

Putting together the pieces to fund a complex project can be an art.

Just ask a developer who has structured a multi-million dollar manufacturing facility.

As economic developers, we first look at the business plan and financial projections. The business plan provides supporting evidence for the need to start or expand a business. It explains the type of business, choice for location, management plan, analysis of competitors and marketing strategy. Financial projections provide a framework for proposed sales and expenses, profit margins, and available cash flow to support debt service.

Next, we look at the project budget.

What does the company need to complete the project and how much will it cost?

For example, let’s assume this is a start-up manufacturer called Business X. The following is the project budget for Business X:

Purchase real estate: Improvements: Equipment: Inventory: Working capital: Total project budget:

$ 500,000 $ 200,000 $ 175,000 $ 75,000 $ 50,000 $1,000,000

We then look at the capital, or physical, assets of the business. Looking at Business X above, there is $875,000 in capital assets.

These are the real estate and improvements of $700,000 and the equipment of $175,000. The inventory is considered a short-term asset since it will be sold in a relatively short timeframe. Working capital is the cash needed to operate the business day-to-day and is a liquid asset. There is no value to a lender in working capital.

In structuring a deal, the first item of consideration is how much the senior lender, or bank, is willing to lend.

They are called the senior lender since they traditionally have a first mortgage on Michelle Capone the real estate and first priority lien position on all other assets. Banks typically lend at a discounted percentage of the capital asset value. For real estate, the bank may lend up to 75 percent of market value.

In the example above, the bank may lend up to $525,000 ($700,000 x 75 percent) to Business X toward the real estate. It should be noted that the bank will only lend this amount against the real estate so long as the appraised value of the real estate is at least $700,000 with the improvements.

Depending on the useful life of the equipment, the bank might lend anywhere from 50 percent to 90 percent of equipment value. Assuming the above at 50 percent, the bank might lend $87,500 for the equipment. Finally, for the inventory, because this will turn over quickly and will not provide much long-term security to the bank, they discount it more and may only provide 20 percent of the cost or $15,000.

Based on the above analysis, an economic developer might assume that a bank could potentially lend $627,500 to Business X based on capital assets that are available as collateral. Next, we look to the owner of Business X to contribute at

a minimum 10 percent of the total project cost as cash equity into the project, or $100,000. Finally, we look to fill the gap in the project, which is $272,500.

Economic developers have tools like loan programs that can take mortgages and liens behind the bank. These are called subordinate loans and fill the gap between what the owner will contribute and what the bank can lend. These loans are traditionally capitalized through a federal or state program like the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Small Business Administration, or Empire State Development. As such, they typically have flexible rates and terms. For Business X, we would recommend that the business owner apply to a subordinate lender like the North Country Alliance, the Jefferson County Local Development Corporation, the St. Lawrence County IDA, or the Lewis County IDA, to name a few, to fill this gap. Often, these organizations will work together to fill the gap.

Finally, we have a proposed deal structure for Business X.

Bank: Subordinate lender(s): Owner cash equity: Total funding sources:

$ 627,500 $ 272,500 $ 100,000 $1,000,000

This is only one example and one way to structure this deal. As variables change like the availability of capital assets or excess equity, then the deal structure might change. However, as you can see there is an art to deal structuring. n MICHELLE L. CAPONE is regional development director for the Development Authority of the North Country. Contact her at mcapone @danc.org. She is a member of the Greater Watertown Jaycees and Sunrise Rotary

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BU SIN E S S L AW

Understand your rights in contracts

A

verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on” is a statement commonly associated with famous movie producer Samuel Goldwyn.

There is a certain amount of truth in the statement since some contracts must be in writing in order to be enforceable in court. A contract that is required to be in writing and is not cannot be enforced in court. Consequently, the injured plaintiff in most cases doesn’t have a remedy in court. There are other circumstances when verbal contracts are enforceable in court. However, if you are a small business owner, you should be aware of the types of contracts that must be written.

One type of contract that must be written is a contract for the sale of goods for $500 or more. New York’s Uniform Commercial Code sets out the requirements for the contract. Oral contracts for the sale of goods less than $500 are enforceable in court.

The commercial code has relaxed many of the formal requirements of a written contract; one example is the requirement that the parties’ signature be notarized.

A contract is sufficient as long as there is some written language to suggest contractual intent and it is signed by one or both of the parties. If a party does not sign the contract, they cannot be bound to it, while the party signing is bound. Even if the parties leave out certain important information such as the price of the goods, a court can still enforce the agreement. Yet, there is one item that must be specified in the contract or a court will not

enforce it and that is quantity of goods sold.

Therefore, the commercial code stipulates that in the sale of goods equal to or greater than $500, there must be writing Larry Covell that indicates some intent to contract, signed by the party who will be bound to the agreement and language indicating the quantity of goods to be sold.

In addition to the formal requirement concerning written contracts that apply to sellers and buyers in a sale of goods, there are two corollary circumstances that apply only to merchants. In the commercial code, a merchant is defined as a seller or buyer who regularly deals in the goods of the kind. This means that a merchant consistently sells or buys these types of goods on an ongoing basis.

The first circumstance is called a “written acknowledge of an oral contract.” The Commercial Code assumes that many merchants, because of their business practices, enter oral contracts that would ordinarily require a written contract. The oral contract could be entered into either over the phone or by a face-to-face meeting. An enforceable contract can be created if one of the merchants sends a written acknowledgement of the oral contract to the other merchant.

The written acknowledgement must meet

the requirements of a written contract.

The other merchant who receives the written acknowledgement has 10 days to object to any of its contents. If the other merchant does not, they are bound to requirements of the written acknowledgement. This is one the very few circumstances in our jurisprudence that a party can be bound to a contract without signing it.

The second circumstance is called a “merchant’s firm offer.” In this case, a merchant gives a written assurance to a potential buyer (whether a merchant or non-merchant) that the goods can be purchased at a specified price for a stated period of time. If no time period is stated in the written offer then it is presumed to be for a reasonable period of time. In either situation, the time period cannot extend beyond three months. The buyer who receives the merchant’s firm offer has the legal right but not the obligation during the time period stated or for a reasonable time period to purchase the goods for the specified price.

This scenario is similar to an option contract. In an option contract, a buyer has the legal right but not the obligation to purchase, for example, land or stock for a specified price during a particular time period. However, in an option contract, the buyer must pay for this legal right, while in a merchant’s firm offer, the buyer does not. n LARRY COVELL is a professor of business at SUNY Jefferson and an attorney. Contact him at lcovell@sunyjefferson.edu. His column appears every other month in NNY Business.

August 2014 | NNY Business

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COM M E R CE CORNER

Advocates align with chambers

A

ccording to the New York State of Health, as of April 16, just over 1.3 million people have completed the application process and there were 960,762 enrolled in the health care exchange. But what is the gap between applications and actual enrolled? Many may not have the answers. However, there are organizations, brokers and navigators who can assist individuals and small businesses to look at all the options available.

The New York-based Community Service Society describes itself as an informed, independent, and unwavering voice for positive action on behalf of more than three million New Yorkers. The society’s success is due in part to its innovative service models and a willingness to work with partners in the public and private sectors across the political spectrum, such as chambers of commerce.

The Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce has partnered with the Community Service Society for more than two years and will continue this partnership for years to come.

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a chamber represents varying things in a community. Ultimately, the role of any chamber of commerce surrounds five primary goals: 1) Build communities to which residents, visitors and investors are attracted 2) Promote those communities 3) Strive to ensure future prosperity by way of a pro-business climate 4) Represent a unified voice of the employer community 5) Reduce transactional friction through well-functioning networks In 2009, the Greater Watertown North-

Country Chamber of Commerce began an insurance arm of its operation to support the business community. It was a trend that most chambers of commerce across the country were Lynn Pietroski following. When the Affordable Care Act surfaced and began to affect small businesses and individuals across the state, the Community Service Society developed various programs to serve individuals and businesses and worked with many membership organizations across the state to provide an additional option for consumers. These services aligned with the mission of chambers and the five primary goals that provide a foundation for many chambers of commerce.

THE ROLE OF CHAMBERS IN THE HEALTH CARE EXCHANGE Over the past several years, many organizations have been working with Small Business Assistance Programs, which were designed for organizations such as chambers of commerce to educate businesses and help individuals navigate the New York State Health Care Exchange. Through this funding there were 34 Small Business Assistance Program specialists located around the state. The Greater WatertownNorth Country Chamber of Commerce was host to one of these programs covering the tri-county area of Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties. The mission was to educate small businesses and health care

decision makers about their health coverage options and rights, and to assist them when problems arise.

Most recently, the Community Service Society awarded $60,000 to the Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce to support a Community Health Advocate program. The yearlong program will provide post-enrollment navigational services to individuals and small businesses and support consumers in becoming their own advocate and accessing health coverage on their own.

The most recent money through the Community Service Society will support the work of 21 community-based organizations and three specialist agencies that will provide assistance to health care consumers and small businesses in communities across the state, ensuring that consumers have some place to go if they need help understanding their health insurance or if they experience difficulties accessing health care services.

The Community Health Advocates program has been providing free, confidential individual counseling and educational community presentations to consumers, advocates and providers for more than 10 years on various health insurance options.

People can seek help regardless of whether they are privately insured, publicly insured or uninsured.

If you’re an individual or a business that still has questions regarding the exchange, there are multiple resources in our community to assist. The Affordable Care Act is still here and there are still multiple barriers, but you do not have to face it alone.

n LYNN PIETROSKI is president and CEO of the Greater Watertown North Country Chamber of Commerce. Contact her at ceo@watertownny. com. Her column appears monthly.

Your Regional Recycling Resource A partnership of the Development Authority of the North Country and Jefferson, Lewis & St. Lawrence Counties.

www.NorthCountryRecycles.org 58 | NNY Business | August 2014

AG RI- BU S I NE S S

Agricultural trends from 2007 to 12

W

ould you believe that the amount of agricultural land in Jefferson County has increased? How is that possible when everyone knows there are fewer farms, less cows, and fewer people going into farming? Looking at data from the National Agriculture Statistic Service allows us to explore an interesting story.

According to data from the latest Census of Agriculture for the United States published by NASS in 2012, Jefferson County had 290,811 acres listed as agricultural land on 876 farms. Across Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties there are 2,813 farms operating on 829,461 acres. Of the total number of farms, 205 are dairy farms in Jefferson County, 237 and 319 are dairy farms in Lewis and St. Lawrence counties, respectively. Jefferson County has the largest average size farm at 332 acres followed

by Lewis County at 287 acres and St. Lawrence at 274 acres. The data provides an indication that Jefferson County, while not having as many farms as St. Lawrence County, has more larger farms.

Looking at information from 2007 compiled by NASS, we see there were 885 farms operating on 262,331 acres. Across our three-county region, 776,826 acres were farmed by 2,831 farms. For the three counties, total acres in farms increased by nearly 53,000 acres in the seven years from 2005 to 2012. In Jefferson County the number of acres farmed increased by slightly more than 28,000. This is a noticeable change in the trend of loss

of agricultural land since 1992.

In the 15 years between 1992 and 2007, Jefferson County lost 68,000 acres of farmland. Much of the loss of land was due to declining farm Jay Matteson numbers with 165 fewer farms in business.

What happened since 2007 that has reversed the loss of farmland in Jefferson and the surrounding two counties of the north country? We are seeing an increase in farm size, from an average of 296 acres to 332 acres. We are also seeing a dramatic increase in the size of our larger dairy farms. Several farms in our county now operate on several thousand acres of land. Farms in Belleville, Henderson, Ellisburg and Hounsfield are tilling land in the towns of Brownville, Lyme, Clayton and beyond. Good agricultural land is hard to come by in many areas of the county. If a smaller farm decides to retire and sell their land, farms in other areas are knocking at the door when they hear the farm is for sale. This is good for the small farm owner who looks to the farm as a retirement asset. They bought the land relatively cheap and now are able to sell it for more. It is good for the expanding farm because they need it to grow crops to support their livestock. It is good for our economy because it keeps

land in production, bringing outside revenue into our rural areas.

Another trend happening in Jefferson County is the growth of commodity cropping where farms are growing crops like corn and soybeans that are harvested and sold to other foreign and domestic markets. Farm owners in other areas have moved into the area and operated satellite crop farms for commodity production purposes. We are also seeing resurgence in small hobby-type farms that are growing or raising vegetables or livestock for small markets. Beef production is increasing and more land is being used for grass production to support grass-based livestock agriculture. The startup of wineries in Jefferson County has also brought land back into production to grow grapes and other fruits.

All of this growth in farm operations has led to our increase in land used for agriculture. When land goes back into farm production, revenue is generated that the farm owner then uses in our local economy. Money coming into our local economy from farms turns over six to seven times before it leaves our community. As we say here at the Jefferson County Economic Development Office, any time you can use the sun, soil and water to create a value-added product you sell outside our community, we all prosper. Thank you, farmers. n JAY M. MATTESON is agricultural coordinator for the Jefferson County Local Development Corp. He is a lifelong Northern New York resident who lives in Lorraine. Contact him at coordinator@comefarmwithus.com. His column appears monthly in NNY Business.

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B U S I N E SS TECH BYTES

Health IT changing future of care

I

n January, Healthcare IT News began a series of articles highlighting changes in Health Information Technology over the past decade. Significant gains in Electronic Medical Records or EMR implementations have changed the way most hospitals function today. In 2006, more than 20 percent of all hospitals were still paper based. By 2013 this had dropped to 6.9 percent. John Hoyt, executive vice president of HIMSS Analytics, which specializes in ERM tracking, says, “I think we are at a tipping point. More and more I’m going to hospitals and hearing young doctors are expecting it. It is just a matter of funding it and getting it done.”

Electronic records have other implications and will drive health care IT trends for years to come. Electronic Protected Health Information or PHI poses one of the greatest challenges. For 2013, Experian reported, 46 percent of all breaches that their data resolution department serviced were health care related, while the IT risk and compliance firm Coalfire predicted that health care IT breaches will be a top five security worry. The website HHS.gov outlines that 69 percent of all individual cases affected by breaches have been from loss or theft of physical assets while only 18 percent are from hacking or server theft. As health care IT specialists develop mitigation processes in relation to the security risks associated with remote PHI cloud storage, health care providers will increasingly turn to the cloud as an affordable, scalable and secure way to store PHI and access health care IT applications.

Besides electronic records implementations, either on premise or in the cloud, telemedicine is another developing health care IT trend. The American Telemedicine

Organization reports that 19 states have a telemedicine parity policy and another nine have proposed laws to get close to half of the U.S. compensating for telemedicine activities. Health Jill Van Hoesen care providers in these states will have a revenue stream while their patients will be availed the scalable cost-effective telehealth benefits in an affable connection with their provider.

In addition to telemedicine, patients are increasingly interested in online health information and portals. Frost & Sullivan estimates that patient portals will grow 221 percent through 2017. Health care providers are finding that when they can provide patients with online PHI they empower patients to take ownership of their health care and control over their own PHI. Telemedicine and patient portals can provide alternatives to traditional health care and should begin to help control soaring medical costs.

While security will continue to be a concern, the billions of digitized health care records is also a watershed of intelligence for medical and research professionals in diagnoses and treatment decisions across large swatches of the population. This should make the health care system more efficient and effective, right?

Do you have some medical, health care, or IT experience? Would you be interested in two nationally recognized certifications in health IT for as little as $500? A partnership

between SUNY Jefferson and the Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization has made this possible in the north country.

“These certification courses are being offered to begin to fill the direct need in our communities for standardized trained and qualified health care IT specialists,” said Whitney Snyder, JCC’s community services coordinator.

Grants are awarded by the Health Resources Service Administration and provide $750 scholarships toward the full tuition price of $1,250. Pat Fontana, FDRHPO and health care IT course instructor, stresses “not only can you receive a scholarship to attend this course, certification examinations are included in the cost of tuition, which are valued at $300 each, and there are no additional books or fees for this course, saving eligible participants hundreds of dollars for this valuable certification opportunity in the ever expanding field of health care IT.” The health care IT certificate training program is an eight-month course that will enable the candidate to attain health care IT certificates in two curricula and attain working knowledge in many facets of health care IT. Successful completion of these certification courses can lead to employment as an implementation support specialist, technical/software support staff, and implementation manager. The health care IT program is held on Jefferson Community College’s campus, in the extended learning center. Classes begin in late August. Contact Pat Fontana, FDRHPO, (315) 755-2020 to learn more.

n JILL VAN HOESEN is chief information officer for Johnson Newspapers and a 25-year IT veteran. Contact her at jvanhoesen@wdt.net.

Her column appears monthly in NNY Business.

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SMAL L BU SIN E SS SU CC E S S

Don’t break bank with marketing

A

ll small businesses are looking to get the most out of their marketing budget.

While a regular program of media promotion should be the foundation of every company’s marketing plan, there are many affordable ways to spread your marketing message at little or no cost.

USE WHAT YOU HAVE The customers you already have are your best resource. They know your business and they like your products and services. Keeping a database with information about these customers is a great way to keep them informed of current happenings in your business.

You can purchase contact management software if that’s your thing, but you can develop your own customer database inexpensively by using your favorite spreadsheet software.

Use it to keep customer contact information so when you receive a shipment of someone’s favorite product you can alert them with a phone call or e-mail. Some businesses keep track of birthdays and anniversaries, and then send reminders to spouses and other family members.

Service companies can use a customer database to track routine services and send reminders when an oil change is due, or a pet is in need of vaccinations.

Another way to take advantage of your loyal customer base is to provide them incentives for referring new customers to you. The customers you’ve already satis-

fied are your best sales people, but most of them won’t go out and do it on their own. Providing discounted products or free service to customers who give you referrals will keep a stream of new customers heading your way.

in an event is a great way to get known.

Whether it’s cooking hotdogs at a summer festival or volunteering to sit in a dunking booth, your customers are bound to remember you and your business.

Michelle Collins

BE A JOINER Being active in your community is a great way to build rapport with potential customers. Local civic organizations such as chambers of commerce, Rotary and Ki-

EDUCATE THE CUSTOMER Customers who look to your business for knowledge and expertise are customers who are bound to come back and refer others. To establish yourself as the resident specialist in your field, be sure to provide plenty of opportunities for your customers to learn from you. Hosting short training seminars is a great way to get customers to know your business and to get information on a topic they have interest in. Some wholesalers and suppliers have sales reps or speakers who will provide educational sessions about specific products or services at your place of business.

Another great way to educate customers about your business is to give them an opportunity to try your products or services for themselves. Free sample products or trial services allow a customer to try what you have to offer with no risk.

What makes these low-cost promotional ideas so appealing is that you can start implementing them today. And, if one doesn’t work well for you particular business, you haven’t lost a big investment, so feel free to try another.

Not all community projects will require a monetary donation. Getting management and employees involved in an event is a great way to get known. wanis all pursue worthwhile projects in the community and provide an opportunity to meet other business people. These organizations also provide excellent opportunities for speaking at meetings and dinners.

Sponsoring local sports teams at both the youth and adults levels is an inexpensive way to gain recognition in your community and a number of charity events in your community are also likely to seek sponsors. But not all community projects will require a monetary donation. Getting management and employees involved

n MICHELLE COLLINS is a certified business advisor with the New York State Small Business Development Center at SUNY Canton. Contact her at collinsm@canton.edu. Her column appears bi-monthly in NNY Business.

August 2014 | NNY Business

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COMMUNITY / BUSINESS CALENDAR

CANTON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS THROUGH THURSDAY, OCT. 31

n Canton farmers market, celebrating its 40th year. Village Park, Main Street.

Information: www.gardenshare.org.

CAPE VINCENT SATURDAYS THROUGH OCT. 4

n Farmers market, 8 a.m., Village Green Broadway Street. Sponsored by Cape Vincent Chamber of Commerce. Vendor application or information: 654-2418 or www.capevincent.org.

CLAYTON THURSDAYS TO SEPT. 11

n Clayton Farmer’s Market, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Village Park Circle. Vendor applications available. Information: Beth Rusho, 686-3771, ext. 4, beth@1000islands-clay ton.com, info@1000islands-clayton.com.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 6

n Potters Beach Stewardship Day with the Thousand Islands Land Trust (TILT), 9 a.m. to noon, Potters Beach, Grindstone Island. Meet at TILT office, 135 John St. for transportation. Volunteers needed to help steward Potter’s beach.

Wear gloves, bring tools if you have them and spend an enjoyable morning on the beach. TILT will provide water; Subway of Clayton will provide lunch. Meet at TILT office at 9 a.m. for transportation to the island. Register in advance. Information and registration: Corinne Mockler, 686-5345.

COLLINS LANDING SATURDAY, AUG. 30

n Blues at the Winery, 2 to 6 p.m., Thousand Islands Winery, 43326 Seaway Ave. Live blues music by String of Pearls, barbecue, wine slushies, wine tastings.

62 | NNY Business | August 2014

Admission: Free. Information: 482-9306, www.ThousandIslandsWinery.com.

GOUVERNEUR THURSDAYS THROUGH OCT. 23

n Farmer’s market, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Village Green, Main Street. Information: www.gardenshare.org.

LOWVILLE SATURDAY, SEPT. 20

n Annual Cream Cheese Festival, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., downtown Lowville.

Live music, food and local artists along with more than $5,000 in cash prizes.

Information: Lewis County Chamber of Commerce, 376-2213 or www.cream cheesefestival.com

NEWCOMB FRIDAY, SEPT. 12, THROUGH SUNDAY, SEPT. 14

n Fly fishing workshops, Adirondack Interpretive Center, Route 28N. Offered

by Northern Forest Institute. Open to ages 12 and older. Minors must have adult in attendance. Cost: $199 per person each workshop; $375 for both. Reservation, information: 518-582-2000, aic@esf.edu.

OLD FORGE FRIDAY, SEPT. 5 TO SUNDAY, SEPT. 7

n Adirondack 90 Miler Canoe Race.

Three-day, 90-mile flat water race follows the original highways of the Adirondacks from Old Forge to Saranac Lake.

Course offers mix of lake and river flat water paddling with several carries.

Participants receive T-shirt, mileage pins, awards, camping, snacks, boat shuttles and post-race meal. 90 Miler limited to 275 boats. Entry fee $150 per paddler; $125 for AWA members. Information and registration, (518) 891-2744.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 9 n 21st Annual Calypso’s Cove Charity Go-Kart Race, 5 p.m., racing to begin at 5:30 p.m. sharp, 3183 State Route 28. Race seeks to raise money within the community for local businesses in need. Entry Fee: $250 covers five racers who will each run in two heats, along with food and tickets for 5 beverages for each racer. Additional beverages can be purchased for $2 each. Team leaders should send their check for $250 and a list of five racers to Calypso’s Cove Charity Go-Kart Race, 3183 State Route 28, Old Forge, NY 13420. 24 team limit.

Information, 369-6145.

SATURDAY, OCT. 18 n Running Colors 5k Run – 9 a.m., check-in; 11 a.m., start. Start and finish at the Old Forge lakefront. A 3.1-mile fun run and walk focused less on speed and more on crazy color fun. Participants will be blitzed with food-safe, environmentally friendly powdered color. At the finish of the event will be a color throwing party.

Early registration, $25; day of event registration, $35. Children under 10, free.

Information, 369-6411 ext. 0, info@ viewarts.org, or www.viewarts.org.

OGDENSBURG THURSDAYS THROUGH SEPT. 25 n Ogdensburg Green Market, 2 to 5 p.m., Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center; Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through Sept. 27, Library Park. Information: www.gardenshare.org/content/farmersmarkets, Sandy Porter, 561-801-3896.

POTSDAM SATURDAYS THROUGHT OCT. 25 n Potsdam farmers market, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., south of municipal lot near Ives Park. Information: Laura Popielski, 2618054 or laura@gardenshare.org.

RODMAN n Open house, 4 to 7 p.m., Solid Waste Management Facility, off Route 177.

Focus: Value-added agriculture. Live fiddle music, agricultural products, environmental displays, guided nature walks, live birds of prey with Rick West, exhibit from New York State Zoo at Thompson Park, vendor exhibits, bus tours of facility.

Electronics waste turn-in opportunity.

Sustainability quest for children. Door prize. Food and beverages available for purchase. Sponsored by Development Authority of the North Country. Information: www.danc.org, or Richard LeClerc, rleclerc@danc.org.

SYRACUSE WEDNESDAY, OCT. 29

n B2B Marketplace presented by Time Warner Cable Business Class, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., The Oncenter, 800 S. State St. All-day event and Business Exchange; a structured forum to engage buyers and sellers identified by members as important to the growth and sustainability of their businesses. Additional elements include: training and education programs, networking events and visibility opportunities. Information and registration: www.centerstateceo.com/events.

THERESA FRIDAYS THROUGH SEPT. 26

n Music in the vineyard, 6 to 9 p.m., Venditti Vineyards, 42780 New Connecticut Road. Sip sangria, listen to music. No cover charge. Bring a picnic and blanket/chairs. Information: Jana, 287-0500.

WATERTOWN WEDNESDAYS THROUGH OCT. 1 n Greater Watertown North Country

135 Keyes Avenue, Watertown, New York

315-782-4910

THURSDAY AUG. 21

n GWNC Chamber Business After Hours at NYS Zoo at Thompson Park, 5 to 7 p.m., One Thompson Park. Enjoy the premier Networking Event in the north country. Great food, great prizes and great networking. Register by noon, Wednesday, Aug. 19. $10 members (registered), $12 members (not registered), $15 non-members. Registration and information: Chamber, 788-4400.

SUNDAY, AUG. 31

n 18.12 Challenge and half marathon, 18.12 mile race and half marathon starting at 7 a.m., Immaculate Heart Central School, 1316 Ives St. Finish on 1812 battlefield, Sackets Harbor. Preregistration to Sunday, July 20. Cost: $60, half marathon; $65 after July 1; $75, 18.12 challenge; $70 after July 1. Register: www.1812challenge.com. Information: Leslie Robare, lrobare@ymail.com, www. facebook.com/18.12Challenge, by Thursday, July 31.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 4

n Athena Award and Presentation Dinner 2014, 6 to 8:30 p.m., Hilton Garden Inn, sponsored by WWNY 7 NewsFox28, First Niagara Bank and Timeless Frames. Cocktails at 6 p.m., dinner and program at 7 p.m. Information and nomination forms available at: www.business. watertownny.com/events/details/athenaaward-and-presentation-dinner-2014

THURSDAY, SEPT. 4 THROUGH THURSDAY, OCT. 16

n Entrepreneurial Training Course, 6 to 9 p.m., Jefferson Community College.

Provides guidance and support for those interested in starting or expanding a

small business. Includes one-on-one discussion with SBDC advisor. Learn about contract agreements, marketing, the microloan program, bookkeeping and much more. $195/course, includes textbook. Information, 782-9262 or sbdc@sunyjefferson.edu.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 6 n 2014 Run for Recovery 5k run/ walk, 10k run; registration, 6:30 a.m., race 9 a.m., Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds.

Event remembers Mark Antonelli, killed by a drunk driver in 2004 while on his way home from work as a correctional officer. After party, food, face painting, prizes, and silent auction to follow. All money raised supports the Watertown Urban Mission Bridge Program to help individuals rise above addiction to serve their community. $20 pre-registration, individuals; $110 for team of six; military and students, 10 percent off. Same day registration, $25 each or $140 for team of six. Online registration available. Information, 782-8440 or www.watertownurbanmission.com/runforrecovery

THURSDAY, SEPT. 18 n GWNC Chamber Business After Hours at the Dulles State Office Building: Half way to St. Patty’s Day, 5 to 7 p.m., 317 Washington St. The premier networking event of the north country, sponsored and hosted by North Country Goes Green~Irish Festival. Great networking, prizes and food. Register by noon, Wednesday, Sept. 17. $10 members (registered), $12 members (not registered), $15 non-members.

Registration and information: Chamber, 788-4400.  GOT A BUSINESS EVENT or calendar item? Email nnybusiness@wdt.net. Deadline is the 10th of each month for the following month’s issue. Visit us on Facebook at www. facebook.com/NNYBusiness or www.nny bizmag.com for events calendar updates.

COMMUNITY / BUSINESS CALENDAR

THURSDAY, SEPT. 18

Chamber of Commerce Farm & Craft Market, 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesdays, 317 Washington St. Information: Toni M. Miller, Market Manager at tmiller@watertownny.com or www.watertownfarmersmarket.weebly.com.

(315) 782-4910 • 1-800-772-4201 • Fax: (315) 785-8248 www.dlcalarco.com • francee@dlcalarco.com

August 2014 | NNY Business

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B U SI N E SS S CENE GWNC Chamber Business After Hours at Coyote Moon Vineyards

From left, Nadia Saar and Rebecca Mabry, AmeriCU Credit Union, Watertown.

From left, Tony and Phil Randazzo, Coyote Moon Vineyards, Clayton.

GRACE E. JOHNSTON PHOTOS | NNY BUSINESS

GRACE E. JOHNSTON PHOTOS | NNY BUSINESS

From left, Natalie Antos, Galen Moshier and Lisa Wodka, all of SherwinWilliams Company, Watertown. Coyote Moon Vineyards, Clayton, hosted the Greater-Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce July Business After Hours on July 17.

From left, Tom and Sue Storino, Kristin Puccia and Adam Storino, Storino Geomatics, Watertown.

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SERVICE

BU SIN E SS S C E NE GWNC Chamber Business After Hours at Coyote Moon Vineyards

From left, Emily Gould, Patti Kendall and Tori Klock, all of Watertown Savings Bank, Watertown.

From left, Kathi Sanford, Shaynna Adams and Nicole Davis, Alice Andrew Salon, Watertown.

KEN EYSAMAN PHOTOS | NNY BUSINESS

From left, Bill Brabant, Primerica, Watertown, Steve Wood, Westelcom, Watertown, and Jeff Wood, Samaritan Medical Center, Watertown.

KEN EYSAMAN PHOTOS | NNY BUSINESS

From left, Nicole Bertrand, EFMP at Fort Drum, and Karen Greene, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County, Watertown.

August 2014 | NNY Business

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B U S I N E SS SCENE 1000 Islands Harbor Hotel Grand Opening Reception, Clayton

From left, Cathleen Hart-Frantz and Jennie Hart, Hart Hotels, Buffalo.

From left, Dan Tack and Bill Hart, Hart Hotels, Buffalo.

GRACE E. JOHNSTON PHOTOS | NNY BUSINESS

GRACE E. JOHNSTON PHOTOS | NNY BUSINESS

From left, Cindy Coughlin and Barbara Leeson, River Rat Cheese, Clayton.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony heralded in the opening of Clayton’s 1000 Islands Harbor Hotel on July 9. Guests were given champagne and invited to tour the property. More than 100 members of the community came out for a look inside the four-story hotel and conference center that overlooks the St. Lawrence River.

From left, Alan Incorvaia and David Hart, Hart Hotels, Buffalo.

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BU SIN E SS S C E NE St. Lawrence Chamber Business Spotlight at Frederic Remington Museum

From left, Joshua Parker, Parker Maple Farm, Canton, grandmother, Nan Parker, and father, Christian Parker, Parker Line Striping, DeKalb Junction.

Shannon Bobb and Derek Van House, PMHV & Co. CPAs, P.C., Ogdensburg.

KEN EYSAMAN PHOTOS | NNY BUSINESS

KEN EYSAMAN PHOTOS | NNY BUSINESS

From left, Brent Carbino and K. Chad Graham, Tucker Spring Organics, Colton.

The Frederic Remington Museum, Ogdensburg, hosted the St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce Business Spotlight on July 23.

From left, Shannon Ghize and Melanie Flack, both of the Frederic Remington Museum, Ogdensburg, and Gidget Kimble, Diocese of Ogdensburg.

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B U SI N E SS S CENE Lewis County Chamber Business After Hours at Tug Hill Vineyards

From left, Joleen Tufo and Heidi Marshall, Baldwin Management, which operates Willow Landing Apartments, Lowville.

From left, Todd Simpson, Business Automation Technologies, Carthage, and

Wes Kujawa, Farm Credit East, Watertown.

JEREMIAH S. PAPINEAU PHOTOS | NNY BUSINESS

JEREMIAH S. PAPINEAU PHOTOS | NNY BUSINESS

Ray and Holly Falk, Suntric Renewable Electricity, Beaver Falls. Tug Hill Vineyards, West Lowville, hosted the Lewis County Chamber of Commerce July Business After Hours on July 24

Rhonda Vanucchi and Daniel Taylor, Lowville Food Pantry.

Celebrating

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BU SIN E SS S C E NE Jefferson Rehabilitation Center 60th Anniversary Celebration

Howard W. Ganter, executive director, Jefferson Rehabilitation Center, Watertown, and wife, Dani, Glen Park.

David Liscole, Jefferson Rehabilitation Center, retired, and Sherry Wilson, Jefferson Rehabilitation Center, Watertown.

KEN EYSAMAN PHOTOS | NNY BUSINESS

KEN EYSAMAN PHOTOS | NNY BUSINESS

From left, Deborah Vink, Michael Capone and Tara Carr, all of Jefferson Rehabilitation Center, Watertown. More than 200 people turned out for Jefferson Rehabilitation Center’s 60th Anniversary Celebration on Aug. 7 at the Bruce M. Wright Memorial Conference Center, Watertown.

Heidi Bearup, Watertown High School, and Dave Shepard, Jefferson Rehabilitation Center, Watertown.

Marra’s Homecare

Phone: (315) 788-8280

www.marrashomecare.com

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| 69

B U S I N E SS HIS TORY The Sisters’ Convent of the Mercy Hospital, the three-story frame residence at 212 Stone St., left, and Mercy Hall, the brick structure at 134 Sherman St., right, were destined for razing in 1958 in preparation for the ground-breaking of the new Mercy Hospital. Mercy Hall, at the corner of Sherman and Stone streets, was the former home of George A. Bagley and at the time of razing was believed to be about 117 years old.

WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES ARCHIVE PHOTO

An eternal legacy of care Watertown’s Mercy Hospital was born from humble start

By GRACE E. JOHNSTON

I

NNY Business

n 1894, the world was at peace. Leo XIII was pope and Grover Cleveland was president. It was a period of industrialization and rapid urbanization. Watertown, a small city with a population of a little more than 14,700 was expanding. Roswell P. Flower, a prominent financier was elected governor of New York and Watertown residents were forging ahead in the paper and dairy industries. It was also when progressive physician Dr. H.G.P. Spencer recognized the need for a Catholic hospital in the city.

Dr. Spencer purchased and equipped a two-story brick structure on Benedict Street, now Sherman Street, and requested the Sisters of Mercy take charge. Four sisters from the Motherhouse in Hogansburg were commissioned to fulfill the assignment. Fifteen patients were placed under their care, and the institution opened its doors on July 1, 1894, under the name “The Sisters Hospital.”

Born in Champion in 1821, Dr. Spencer

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began his medical practice in Watertown in 1846, soon after graduating from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia.

Dr. Spencer made medical history when treating a Lowville boy suffering from a diseased thigh bone. He successfully removed 11 inches of the femur with only a slight shortening of the limb. He also gained notoriety after removing an 81-pound ovarian tumor from a Theresa woman. Dr. Spencer died in 1899 only five years after inviting the Sisters of Mercy to Watertown.

Despite certain disadvantages and limited finances, the small hospital gained a firm foothold. Within three years, the need for a larger building, better adapted to hospital purposes became imperative. Shortly thereafter, the humble facility expanded across the street to the former St. Joachim’s Academy building at 218 Stone St. The academy, a parochial school run by the sisters was discontinued and converted into the expanded Sister’s Hospital. A threestory annex was added to the building in 1900, but was destroyed in 1905. Within a

year, a larger and more modern facility was built and named St. Joachim’s Hospital.

During the hospital’s infancy, 1894 to 1905, a period when it was small and the patients few, the sisters carried the responsibility of care and nursing, often working around the clock. News accounts of the day tell something of disease in the community, “small pox outbreak; typhoid fever epidemic, 500 cases.” According to the first annual report of St. Joachim’s Hospital, 756 patients were treated between 1906 and 1907. Five years later, the annual report from 1911 to 1912 showed 1,019 admissions.

Such growth soon made it evident that the sisters could not handle the nursing care needs alone. A charter was obtained from the New York State Board of Regents and a training school for nurses was established in May 1905. The school was in existence until 1970 when the program was phased out and replaced by the Jefferson Community College program. The class of 1907 graduated a class of five: Madge Stonness, Alice Farmer, Agnes Benson, Helen Farrell and Mary

B U S I N E SS HIS TORY McMannus, superintendent.

In 1918, many in Watertown were stricken with influenza and pneumonia, as were many in much of the Western world.

Typhoid and diphtheria were widespread medical problems at the time and World War I also had its effect on St. Joachim’s Hospital, necessitating a public appeal to readers of the local newspaper for “a single pound of sugar for patient diets.”

In 1926, a new four-story building opened under the corporate title of Mercy Hospital and had capacity for 100 patients, including new maternity and physical medicine departments. This expansion was followed by several others, eventually encompassing the entire block of the north side of Stone Street from Sherman to South Massey.

In 1944, McAuley Hall was built to provide new facilities for the school of nursing. The Madonna Home was built in 1963 to provide long-term care services to the elderly and the original hospital on Sherman Street was demolished in stages between 1965 and 1969.

In 1990, financial difficulties led the facility to divest itself of hospital beds and cut jobs, and was renamed Mercy Center for Health Services.

Mercy’s downward spiral began around 2010, with former administrators blaming poor Medicaid reimbursement rates. The state Department of Health, however, said the facility lacked a viable financial plan and recommended in 2010 that its closure process be expedited.

Begun as an institution devoted to caring for the “sick poor,” Mercy hospital grew to deliver a full range of sophisticated acute, chronic and preventative health care services to north country residents. But in February 2013, the doors closed on a health institution that traced its birth to 1884.

Fayetteville-based COR Development Co., has proceeded with plans to develop the property into 168 residential units and 42,000 square feet of street-level shops and offices. Demolition of the Stone Street site began earlier this year. But because so many local lives were been touched by Mercy care over the years, part of the demolished hospital site will be set aside as a small “reflection” park to remember the work and legacy of this stalwart medical institution. n GRACE E. JOHNSTON is staff writer and editorial assistant for NNY Magazines. Contact her at gjohnston@wdt.net or 315-661-2381.

Business history is a monthly feature from the archives of the Watertown Daily Times. Visit www.watertowndailytimes.com to access digital archives since 1988, or stop by the Times, 260 Washington St., Watertown to research materials in our library that date back to the 1800s.

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n our September issue, we look at Fort Drum and the 10th Mountain Division 30 years after the post began expansion to accommodate the reactivated division.

Also coming next month: n DRUM COUNTRY BIZ: For many service members, leaving active military life doesn’t necessarily mean leaving the north country. n GUEST ESSAY: A column by U.S. Rep. Bill Owens on protecting Fort Drum’s assets. n 20 QUESTIONS: An in-depth interview with a north country business leader. n BUSINESS HISTORY: Braman’s Manufacturing Co. was a leading Carthage employer. n SMALL BUSINESS STARTUP: River Golf Adventures is seeing success — and growth — in Clayton after it added a driving range. n PLUS: NNY Snapshot, Economically Speaking, Commerce Corner, Nonprofits Today, Business Tech Bytes, Small Business Success, Real Estate, Agri-Business, Business History and Business Scene. n VISIT US ONLINE at www.nnybizmag.com.

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