17-05-2025
Kaleida's new Transit hub to address access to care
To help address the medically underserved 'northern corridor' of communities, Kaleida Health and General Physician, PC, will relocate their Lockport physician practices to a newly built outpatient services facility at 6009 South Transit Road at the corner of Robinson Road. A new blood draw lab will be the first to open at the location on Monday morning, with other services relocated in early June.
The site brings services under the same roof, making it easier for patients to access, said Elizabeth Ortolani, public relations and communications lead for Kaleida Health. The 32,000 square-foot site, named the Lockport Medical Park, is a newly built 'access hub' that will house women's health care, primary care, cardiology, and laboratory services, according to Ortolani.
Great Lakes Women's Health at 175 Walnut St. will close May 29 and open at the Transit site June 2. Great Lakes Primary Care from 5879 Snyder Dr. and Great Lakes Cardiovascular from 475 South Transit Road, will both close June 5 and re-open June 9 at the new site.
'It's not going to interrupt patient services at all,' Ortolani said. Patients should directly report to the Transit location and new patients are being accepted.
'I think that one of the newer ideas is that it's a community access hub,' said Dr. Michael Mineo, Kaleida's chief medical officer. 'It used to be that care was centralized around hospitals. Now it is a single location built in a community where you can go right from your doctor's appointment to another room for a blood draw or other services.'
Mineo said patient data and a needs assessment helped Kaleida and General Physicians determine the need for the Transit Road site.
'There has been a lack of access to care in Lockport,' Mineo said. 'With the reduction of services and closing of the different hospitals, there are just no access points for Orleans and surrounding areas. The northern corridor is underserved.'
The volume of patients at Millard Fillmore Suburban from Lockport has grown in the last five years, Mineo said. At the same time, a physician needs assessment showed an aging physician community in Niagara County.
Mineo said women's health care was the greatest need identified, followed by primary care and cardiology.
'In women's health, it's maternity care and women's health services when they are younger, and there's a dearth of care points.'
The new Lockport Medical Park will offer women birth control, UTI testing, STD testing, treatment for surgical disease, and ultrasound services, with mammography planned for the future.
Niagara County has an especially high amount of vascular disease, Mineo said, with typical risk factors including hypertension, diabetes, and smoking. He said supporting patients at the Lockport site was important.
Cardiology services in Lockport will include symptom control, echocardiograms, nuclear testing, stress testing, and EKG services. Nuclear testing stimulates a person's heart, so imaging from nuclear medicine can see how their heart is responding.
'It gives some different information than exercise stress testing,' Mineo said.
