Open Door health care center in Ossining set for renovations, addition

Two Ossining Open Door Family Medical Center locations, a health services provider that helps people who would otherwise struggle to get medical care, are set to be renovated and expanded.

The 2 Church St. and 165 Main St. buildings are across from each other in the village downtown, and both will house medical-care spaces and offices when work is done, said a news release from LeChase Construction Services, which will carry out the renovations and addition.

Work is in progress at the 25,000-square-foot Church Street building, which has largely been administrative offices and a wellness center, according to the release. The 1970s stucco structure will be freshened with a modern glass facade and the building will undergo a gut renovation. It will get a 3,000-square-foot, glass-encased addition with stairs to Church Street that wrap around to become public seating facing the Old Croton Aqueduct walking path, the release said. A staff entrance/exit will lead to a staff-use patio. Church Street will house ambulatory care and behavioral health services and is projected to be finished by early 2025.

Then the plan, starting in 2025, is for renovations at the 22,000-square-foot Main Street medical center, where most healthcare has been provided, according to the release. The work will preserve the front of the 19th-century building. It will have expanded dental, podiatry and optometry services as well as a wellness and large group meeting space for nutrition counseling. It will also have a women, infants and children department, cancer support groups, prenatal education classes, and digital literacy support.

The Main Street project is expected to be finished by mid-2026. Formerly a department store, it was retrofitted for Open Door.

“That building is three stories tall, and we’ll take it one story at a time, with a floor-by-floor gut renovation,” Steve Corletta, LeChase Construction Services project executive, said in the statement.

“We know that many families in the community depend on Open Door for their healthcare needs, and we are proud to apply our expertise and our commitment to high-quality construction to help enhance the center’s offerings,” David Campbell, LeChase vice president, said in the statement.

New York City’s CannonDesign designed both buildings’ renovations and expansion, the release said.

Open Door Family Medical Center, a federally qualified health center, provides services in Westchester and Putnam counties. It has locations in Mamaroneck, Mount Kisco, Ossining, Port Chester, and Sleepy Hollow, as well as in Putnam's Brewster. It also has school-based health centers in Port Chester and Ossining.

The Journal News reported in 2019 that two-thirds of Open Door patients live below the poverty line. Open Door began in 1972 in a church basement, and has set a goal of providing health care "to those who are hardest to reach, regardless of their ability to pay. Often we serve patients who may not otherwise have access to care – including low-income families and individuals without insurance," Lindsay Farrell, Open Door president and chief executive, said in a statement on its website, adding: "We are proud to provide a medical home to over 63,000 patients every year."

Michael McKinney covers growth and development for the Journal News/lohud.com and USA Today Network in Westchester County and the Lower Hudson Valley.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Open Door health care site in Ossining NY slated for renovation