Yale New Haven Health System expands presence in Fairfield County

Yale New Haven Health System (YNHHS) continued its expansion into Fairfield County with the opening of a new facility at 325 Riverside Ave. in Westport.

The new location, launched in association with the Northeast Medical Group, is the first YNHHS digestive health facility in the county and will offer a wide range of services, including bariatric, colorectal and hernia surgery, as well as gastroenterology services.

“We are really excited to be here in Westport tonight to dedicate our new facilities for patients who may have digestive health concerns or issues,”said Cynthia Sparer, YNHHS’s president of ambulatory health, at the Aug. 3 ribbon cutting for the facility.

“We know that patients throughout the region may need very intensive care,”Sparer said of the strategy behind situating the facility in Westport. “We have incredible facilities in our hospitals and throughout our health system to take care of them. But what care is also about is making it convenient for people to get what they need. So, this facility like many we have opened over the years really brings the care closer to home for Westport and surrounding communities. Westport has been wonderful and very accommodating. Our teams from facilities and real estate who did all the work to secure the space and develop it just say nothing but positive things.”

Benjamin Lerner, a gastroenterologist at Yale Medicine who will be taking care of patients at both Bridgeport Hospital and the newly opened Digestive Health Center, said he was excited to bring YNHH services to a new market.

“This is a great location,”Lerner said. “This is a way for me to be part of Yale and not have to be in just New Haven, and I think it really works for patients as well. They get to experience Yale and the specialties available through it but closer to home.”

Marie Gratton, the interim vice president for digestive health and administration who will be overseeing the facility, said she believed that the center is needed to meet an “absolutely huge demand and actually a lot of unmet demand.”

“Recently they changed the screening guidelines for colonoscopies,”Gratton noted, “It was brought down to 45 years of age to get a screening colonoscopy so there’s increased demand that our gastroenterologists need to be able to meet. Early screening helps us to provide early detection and make sure that we can save people’s lives and reduce the mortality of colon cancer if something is found.”

In addition to colonoscopy patients, Gratton said that those seeking weight loss surgery, hernia treatment or care related to irritable bowel disease will likely want to seek out the specialists at the center.

The facility will have several full-time support staffers working alongside physicians who will offer care at the site on a rotating basis. And while the direct impact on Westport’s employment figures and economy may be small, Gratton highlighted the value to the town and surrounding communities in terms of times savings and simplicity.

“We actually had our first patients, and it was a tremendous success,”she added. “People love it— it’s convenient with great parking. It’s easier than having to drive to New Haven to get your care— the whole intent was to bring Yale medicine, the Yale New Haven Health System standard of care, which is a very high level of quality, directly to the community. To make it easy for folks to come access us. That was the goal of coming into the community.”