POTSDAM — St. Lawrence Health (SLH) announced the completion of the newly installed exterior signage on the Regional Care Pavilion at Canton-Potsdam Hospital.

As part of Rochester Regional Health (RRH), this new addition to the Hospital is the first throughout SLH to prominently display the RRH name, demonstrating our collective pride and commitment to expanding access to essential and critical care locally.

On schedule to open this fall, the Pavilion will significantly increase bed capacity and transform the delivery of care through enlarged, private, modern inpatient rooms; an expanded emergency department; additional resuscitation/trauma rooms; and an entirely new main entrance with registration, gift shop, and coffee kiosk. The public will be invited to its grand opening celebration later this year. 

Since its affiliation with RRH in 2021, SLH has offered community members in the St. Lawrence Region a wide breadth of new services, both virtually and in-person. Among the first was access to Maternal Fetal Medicine, followed by a centralized patient access scheduling center to maximize efficiencies between provider offices, ensuring patients receive faster answers, earlier appointments, and an enhanced patient experience.

In 2022, SLH launched EPIC’s Care Connect electronic medical record system and the RRH MyCare patient portal, a safe platform for patients to manage their appointments, access test results, request prescription renewals, and pay medical bills. SLH acquired the Massena-based Seaway Valley Ambulance Service, a dedicated EMS, inter-facility transport, and ambulette service servicing the Massena-area market. Additionally, The Rochester General College of Health Careers opened an extension campus of the Isabella Graham Hart School of Practical Nursing (IGH) in Potsdam, enabling individuals to continue their higher education goals by pursuing nursing licensure and hopefully remain an active member of the SLH family, providing high-quality care to local communities.

In 2023, SLH launched its Fast Pass program, where patients needing a referral to another provider are scheduled before they leave after an appointment. If that referred appointment is more than seven days away, patients can be added to Fast Pass and notified if an earlier appointment becomes available.

SLH also acquired a new da Vinci Xi Robotic Surgical System in 2023, with SLH team members and providers visiting Rochester General Hospital to receive further hands-on training for optimal outcomes. The availability of the new da Vinci Xi Robotic Surgical System has enabled SLH to now offer thoracic surgery and hiatal hernia repair locally. Rochester-based Cardiothoracic Surgeons work hand-in-hand with SLH’s Surgeon Apostolos Kandilis, MD, to provide advanced thoracic care to residents across Greater Rochester and the St. Lawrence County region.

In 2024, the St. Lawrence County community gained the ability to schedule virtual urgent care visits, which can be accessed through the MyCare portal or SLH’s Urgent Care webpages. And, most recently, SLH opened its newly constructed Wound Care Center in Massena, affording patients across the region local access to advanced care for complex wounds as an outpatient or inpatient, including specialized physical therapy.

RRH's expansion into the St. Lawrence Region allows its residents to receive the highest-quality health care close to home. Through SLH, we will demonstrate our commitment to improving access to care by bringing the best in primary care, medical, and complex surgical services to the region, improving the quality of life for all who live, work, and study at any of the outstanding colleges and universities in the region.

SLH President Donna McGregor and RRH President of Healthcare Operations & COO Jennifer Eslinger extended their warm welcome to all residents of the North Country into the more extensive Rochester Regional Health System. They recorded their personal message for everyone to watch. The two presidents discuss the entirety of RRH, including nine hospitals (three through SLH), 20,000 team members, and service to 1.5 million patients. As the entire system continues to expand healthcare services throughout Central and Northern New York, Ms. McGregor and Ms. Eslinger stated they are excited about the organization’s future.

 Their video can be accessed at video together (https://vimeo.com/956661282).