By CRAIG FREILICH

North Country This Week

POTSDAM -- Canton-Potsdam Hospital’s $10.5 million outpatient services building now under construction will provide a number of services originally slated for St. Lawrence Health System’s new complex in Canton.

Construction of the two-story building next to the hospital on Leroy Street has begun following state Health Department approval. It is the second time the hospital has planned to move ambulatory surgery services out of the main hospital to allow services such as critical care and imaging to be modernized and enhanced.

A number of outpatient surgery procedures were originally planned to take place in the new $23 million medical building on U.S. Hwy. 11, just east of the Village of Canton.

But that plan had to be rethought after a change to Medicare and Medicaid rules altered the reimbursement structure for new ambulatory surgery facilities.

The change limited Medicaid reimbursements for treatment at new ambulatory surgical centers that were not within 250 yards of a hospital.

Construction of the Canton building was already too far along when the law changed and the facility now houses only specialty care offices and exam rooms.

The new 20,000-square-foot Potsdam outpatient services building will at last allow moving ophthalmology, gastroenterology and pain management outpatient procedures from the fourth floor of the hospital to the first floor of the new building. There will be a general procedure room and two gastroenterology rooms.

The second floor is expected to house intravenous (IV) infusion procedures, most outpatient cardiology testing, and provider offices.

Some specialty outpatient cases will continue to be performed at the main hospital building, the announcement said.

“Community trends and procedure volumes drive the need for change to accommodate shifting demands, and construction is fundamental to meeting those demands,” said St. Lawrence Health System President and CEO David B. Acker.

“The new facility will improve patient flow, increase efficiencies, and provide office space for providers whose proximity to the Hospital is important.

“The expanded capacity will allow for a more patient-centered manner of delivering care,” he said.

SLHS received approval in June from the village planning board for the free-standing building near the hospital’s Center for Cancer Care on the hospital campus on Leroy Street.

Houses at 56 and 58 Leroy Street were demolished to make room for the facility, and lot improvement and preparation have been underway since then.