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Greene County Legislator complains that CMH is leaving him out of the loop

Mar 03, 2023 1:03 pm

Andrea Macko reports at Porcupine Soup that Columbia Memorial health officials are staying mum about where they might put a new medical facility in Greene County after being awarded a $5 million state grant for the project. Catskill and Coxsackie have been mentioned as possible locations, but Greene County Legislator Matt Luvera is complaining that county government officials are being left out of the loop. Luvera said, "My concern is the lack of information being provided to county officials.... The reality is that CMH, and only some in the county, knew they applied for this grant, yet we were not informed of that key detail." Last month Greene County officials said the Hudson-based hospital was moving away from considering Catskill's location near Exit 21 of the New York State Thruway as a possibility for a medical facility. They said then that a Coxsackie location near a different interstate exit was a possibility. But Luvera opposes the Coxsackie site, saying, “Cairo or Catskill―not Coxsackie―should be exactly where CMH should be looking to build or expand. Coxsackie, with all due respect, is not the center of the county and we all know it. That would serve big government, doctors, and southern Albany County… not Greene County." CMH spokesperson William Van Slyke says the Catskill location still, "remains one of several properties in Greene County that has potential for us to locate the new facility.” Andrea Macko reports at Porcupine Soup.