Groundbreaking ceremony held for urgent-care medical center

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephen Williams

Work is starting on the $17.5 million urgent-care center being built at Northway Exit 12 through a partnership between Saratoga Hospital and Albany Medical Center.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Wednesday at the site of the former Saratoga Standardbred horse farm at the northwest corner of the exit. Construction of an access road off a Route 67 roundabout opposite State Farm Insurance had been under way for several weeks.

“We’re hoping to get in the ground this fall and open about this time next year,” said Bradley Sexauer, vice president for strategic planning at Saratoga Hospital.

Saratoga Hospital owns the 140-acre site, where officials have said a full-service hospital may eventually be built, if the Malta area continues to grow. Saratoga Hospital is in a partnership with Albany Med for 24-hour emergency room staffing of the center and other services.

“At a time when other organizations are focused on competing, Saratoga Hospital and Albany Med have chosen a more innovative and more effective approach — partnering and combining our strengths to better serve our growing community,” said Angelo Calbone, Saratoga Hospital president and CEO.

Officials with both hospitals say they believe central Saratoga County’s growth justifies the investment. The site is just a couple of miles from GlobalFoundries, the computer chip plant widely expected to spur a new round of regional economic growth.

The urgent care center is being built by Columbia Development of Albany. It will include medical imaging and laboratory services and will occupy the first floor of a two-story, 60,000-square-foot building. The second floor will include medical offices for primary care and specialty physicians.

The building has been designed to resemble a barn, in keeping with efforts to keep the former horse farm looking like an agricultural site. It was a commercial or private horse farm from about 1980 to 2005, admired by local residents and thousands of passing motorists for its wide pastures and scenic beauty.

Ambulance bays and a helipad are also part of the plan, officials said.