New Guthrie orthopedic service in Big Flats taps into demand in Elmira-Corning market
Guthrie is widening its footprint in the Southern Tier with a new orthopedic office that will serve consumers in the Elmira-Corning area.
The service was established in the existing Guthrie Big Flats Specialties and Rehabilitation Services at 3344 Chambers Road, the former Chase-Pitkin building.
The move comes as surveys indicate other upstate New York healthcare providers are facing soaring costs and possible service cutbacks.
Orthopedics is a medical specialty that focuses on injuries and diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
The new initiative is an effort to meet a perceived unmet demand for those types of services, especially for injuries that don't require emergency attention, according to Dr. Joseph Choi, Guthrie's chairman of orthopedics.
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"If you've been to the emergency room, sometimes the waits can be very long. We want to be able to provide a service to the community to help patients with orthopedic injuries," Choi said.
"We have X-rays, doctors and nurse practitioners to see patients, along with nurses and office support, so we're fully staffed," he said. "If you have a rotator cuff tear, you don't have to go to the ER. We could get you into our office to be seen. We typically can see patients in a day or two."
The walk-in clinic is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon, and providers can assess orthopedic injuries including sprains and strains, dislocations, muscle, tendon, and ligament injuries, and sports injuries.
Guthrie serves residents in 12 counties in New York and Pennsylvania, and despite a report from the Iroquois Healthcare Association indicating nearly 90% of New York hospitals surveyed expect millions of dollars in operating losses this year, the organization is still expanding its services on the New York side, Choi said.
"We saw an opportunity in Chemung and western Steuben counties. We have a lot of patients in the area," he said. "That really worked out well. This organization has been fiscally responsible and at the same time moved ahead to expand. It's a fine balance."
For more information on Guthrie's new Big Flats orthopedic service, go to guthrie.org/locations/big-flats-orthopedic-walk-care.
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This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Guthrie offers new orthopedic services for Elmira-Corning area clients
