PBMC eyes expansion into Greenport; will lease former Capital One space

Six months after the closing of the Capital One bank branch in Greenport, the building may soon have a new tenant.

Peconic Bay Medical Center is planning to lease the vacant building, at 230 Main St., and open medical offices, PBMC president and CEO Andrew Mitchell confirmed Momday.

Mr. Mitchell said the location will offer primary care as well as several specialties, including gastroenterology, general surgery and cardiology.

“We’ve always had patients coming from the east,” he said. “Now, we just want to make it more convenient for them.”

Northwell Health Services has submitted an application to the Greenport Village Planning Board and is proposing several interior renovations to the former bank building to accommodate medical offices.

The proposal is set to be discussed during a pre-submission conference at a village Planning Board meeting Thursday, Nov. 7.

The announcement comes soon after Peconic Bay Medical Center opened a new practice on Main Road in Cutchogue in the former BNB bank building.

“More and more, the industry is seeing bank branches close and medical offices open,” Mr. Mitchell said, adding that the response has been welcome from patients. “When we opened up Cutchogue, we saw tremendous interest in that office.”

The Cutchogue location focuses on primary care, women’s health and general surgery with Dr. Luigi Buono, Nurse Practitioner and certified nurse midwife Julia Chachere and Dr. Agostino Cervone.

Mr. Mitchell said patients on the East End largely come to PBMC for specialty care.

“I think we’re going to bring orthopedics over to Cutchogue,” he said, which will tie into the services eventually offered in Greenport. “They all work together.”

He said the new office also provides an opportunity to care for patients, such as Peconic Landing residents, who travel west for health care.

“We have a large population [of patients who are] 65 and older, and transportation is a challenge,” Mr. Mitchell said. “So the more we can bring the services directly to where people live, the better it is for the community.”

Earlier this year, Southold Town partnered with several agencies to form a senior program, Long Island Senior Sound Care, which recognizes Greenport as a Naturally Occurring Retirement Community. Data compiled from that project demonstrated that more than 50% of residents in Greenport West are over 60 — and that’s not including the residents of San Simeon by the Sound Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation or Peconic Landing.

Recognizing the challenges faced by an aging population, there’s been a regional effort to bring additional health services to the East End.

Earlier this year, Eastern Long Island Hospital merged with Stony Brook Medicine and has vowed to increase services locally.

Mr. Mitchell said that as a regional medical center on the East End, “It’s really important for [PBMC] to make ourselves more available to people locally. The community keeps asking for it, so I think we’re doing the right thing.”

Greenport Village Mayor George Hubbard Jr. said Monday that he was eager to learn more about the plan.

When Capital One made the announcement the branch would be closing in February, Mr. Hubbard expressed concern about a vacant building in the downtown area.

“It’s a good use of the property, it has the parking there. I think that it’s a good idea,” he said Monday.

While the project must receive Planning Board approval, Mr. Mitchell anticipates the office to be up and running by spring 2020.