JANUARY 21, 2019 VOL. 55, No. 3
westfaironline.com
Leisha Young at Leisha’s Bakeria in Bridgeport. Photo by Phil Hall.
INSIDE PAGE
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FIX THE BUDGET
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MURPHY SLAMS TRUMP
Urgent care centers open Leisha’s Bakeria in with greater urgency Bridgeport celebrates 5 years of culinary surprises BY PETER KATZ
pkatz@westfairinc.com
BY PHIL HALL phall@westfairinc.com
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hen it comes to the concept of giving the customers what they want, Leisha Young takes it to an almost magical extreme for the patrons of her Bridgeport eatery Leisha’s Bakeria. “We’ve had customers come in and say, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s International Food
Day at my kid’s school and we forgot to make something,’ ” she recalled. “They’d say, ‘We have Ghana or Argentina or some country.’ And I say, ‘That’s OK, and we’ll make something for someone.’ Or, someone will say, ‘Hey, I see you have biscuits — can you make gravy?’ And I’m like, ‘Sure give me 15 minutes.’ ” Young’s business — which celebrates its fifth anniversary this May — was
based on her ability to respond quickly to customer requests and expectations. “I wanted to do a cute little breakfast spot,” she said about her establishment, located at 7 Lafayette Circle in Bridgeport’s business district. “It evolved into what it is today because of the needs of the block and the people downtown — they wanted something a little fast. People were asking, ‘Can you do this? Can you do that?’ I started off with quiche — I never did baconegg-and-cheese sandwiches. But these workers out there were asking, ‘Where’s my bacon-egg-and-cheese?’ And I was like, ‘Don’t you » » BAKERIA
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IF WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN MASSACHUSETTS also is happening in Westchester and Fairfield counties, and there’s every indication it is, there can be no doubt that we’re experiencing a growing health care revolution. A report by the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission says that since 2010, the number of urgent care centers in that state has increased more than 700 percent, from only 18 at the beginning of the decade to 145 in 2018. The Massachusetts report says that the trend has resulted in enormous cost savings, with the average cost of visiting an urgent care center coming in at $149 with a
patient copay of $33, compared with a visit to a hospital emergency room costing just under $900 on average with a patient copay of $118. Urgent care centers offer patients a way to have medical problems diagnosed and treated without having to make an appointment for a future office visit with a physician or going to a hospital emergency room for a condition which may be serious, but is not acute. New York City has embarked on a program to open urgent care clinics within city hospitals. The first two opened in 2018 at the city’s hospital in Elmhurst, Queens, and Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx. A third is due to open in March at Jacobi » » URGENT CARE
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