Category Archives: Insurance / Medical Services

By Jill Nagy

Jenelle Nemeth’s new business, Breastfeeding Savvy, aims to ease the frustration and isolation felt by many new mothers trying to breastfeed their babies.

Nemeth and her colleagues offer individual consultations both before and after a baby’s birth and host weekly meetings of a lactating mothers’ support group.

The business, also called The Lactation Lounge, is located at 58 Clifton Country Road, Suite 106 in Clifton Park.

Nemeth said that she dreamed for a decade of providing a lactation support service but was motivated to actually do it when the hospital she worked at discontinued outpatient services during COVID  and still is very limited by shortages of staff in what it can offer.

As a hospital nurse, Nemeth did home visits for a couple of years and, during that time, she saw a lot of new mothers self-isolating, cut off from outpatient services and support groups. 

“My heart could not see another isolated mom and that was the real drive behind launching: to gather these moms together to see that they were not alone in transitioning into parenthood,” she said.

By Susan Elise Campbell

Sean Finnegan once researched stocks and bonds for his clients, but now he is finding the best Medicare Advantage plans for their specific needs as an independent Medicare broker.

Over the decade he was a financial advisor his clients often asked him questions about Medicare. He decided to look into how health insurance supplements worked.

“I literally thought: I can make a living helping people make this decision,” he said. For three years he worked as an independent Medicare Advantage broker on the side of his financial advisory role. Then he gave up his securities licenses and founded Saratoga Medicare Group, LLC at 125 High Rock Ave. in Saratoga. 

Then COVID happened.

“It was hard for me at first to help clients over the phone because I’m a hands-on kind of guy,” Finnegan said. “That is how I build my client’s trust and how they know I am looking out for their best interests.”

By Susan Elise Campbell

With Grace Mental Health Counseling PLLC has been growing and operating at capacity at their Saratoga Springs and Clifton Park locations since 2018. The business recently opened a third location in Queensbury, increasing access to quality mental health care in the North Country. 

“We consistently heard feedback that the community in and around Queensbury would benefit from more providers to support the expansion of the area,” said Nicole Edwards, LMHC, who is co-founder and co-owner with Diane Webb, LMHC.

Edwards specializes in couples and family counseling and Webb in trauma, “which is why we are well-matched. We do different things and have a well-rounded staff of therapists,” she said.

All three locations are purposefully located close to clinics, and the Queensbury location at Fowler Square is across the street from Adirondack Community College.

“We are easy to find at 719 Bay Road,” she said. “Students can walk over to Suite 2101 and receive services.”

By Christine Graf

Saratoga Springs native Samantha Lyman is the new owner of Yana Yoga located in the Malta Commons Business Park at 100 Saratoga Village Boulevard in Malta. 

She purchased the business from Amber LaPointe who continues to teach classes at the yoga studio. 

Lyman has been practicing yoga for 13 years, but it wasn’t until six years ago that she became a certified yoga instructor. She pursued her training after experiencing a medical crisis that altered the course of her life. At that time, she had two young children and was working 80-hour weeks for a local property preservation company. 

“I woke up one morning and I was paralyzed,” she said. “I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t talk. My vision was impaired.”

The Utica College graduate was rushed to Albany Medical Center and for the next four months she was in and out of the hospital. Her condition baffled doctors who eventually concluded that Lyman suffers from an autoimmune disease that causes her adrenal glands to shut down when her body in under stress. Although her actual diagnosis was inconclusive, she said the disease is similar to lupus.

It was only after Lyman adopted a holistic lifestyle which included eating only “food from the ground” that her health gradually started to improve. 

“Before my illness, I was eating processed foods, working ridiculously long hours, and practicing no self-care,” she said. “I started drinking celery juice non-stop, eating lots of sweet potatoes and greens, and practicing a lot of medication and yoga. It was through that mind body connection that I was able to bring myself out of it. After I got back into my yoga practice, I never put it back down again. It literally saved my life.”

By Susan Elise Campbell

When Manuel Astruc, M.D., expanded his psychiatric practice years ago from a solo office to one with four nurse practitioners and specialists, he said “the pattern shift would have a bigger impact on the mental health of the community.” 

Now Astruc has introduced a new modality, the first in Saratoga County, that he believes will have the same positive effect. The little-known TMS technology he has acquired has been FDA approved for more than 10 years. 

“Mental health in the workplace and the impact of depression on company production is a problem,” he said.

According to the Center for Disease Control, “the percent of physician office visits with depression indicated on the medical record is 10.6” and “the percent of emergency department visits with depression indicated on the medical record is 11.2.”

“Even medical professionals and therapists don’t know it’s available,” said Astruc, who has lived and practiced in the Saratoga area for more than 26 years.

TMS stands for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, a machine that stimulates deep areas of the brain and “advances the treatment of mental health disorders without medications or side effects,” he said.

One reason many sufferers of depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and addiction have been unaware of the existence of TMS therapy is because it is expensive to bring into a psychiatric practice and costly to use in terms of time and manpower, according to Astruc. 

In-person family visitations have been reinstated at the Wesley Health Care Center in Saratoga Springs.

Wesley Health Care Center is welcoming families for 40-minute in-person visits with residents Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Families can register online through The Wesley Community’s website. All visits must be scheduled in advance.

In-person family visitations at the senior care facility were temporarily paused in accordance with New York state health and safety rules and regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Throughout the pandemic, Wesley has kept families connected through outdoor window visits and virtual visits. Wesley expanded its Life Enrichment staff and technology to help facilitate more than 3,000 online visits since the pandemic began. Wesley has also provided opportunities for compassionate care visits amongst residents and their families.

The Belmont Child Care Association says its new childcare center serving families and children of the backstretch community at Saratoga Race Course is scheduled to open this summer.

The 4,300-square-foot center will be located on the Oklahoma side of the Saratoga backstretch. Funded by Michael and Lee Dubb, the facility will be named Faith’s House in honor of Faith Dubb, mother of BCCA founder and board chairman Michael Dubb.

Faith’s House will provide child care and early education programs for infants, toddlers and preschool-aged children. The center will be open seven days a week from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. to accommodate the schedules of backstretch workers and horsemen.

“All working parents deserve to know that their children are being cared for in a safe, healthy and enriching environment during the workday,” said Dubb, who is a prominent thoroughbred owner in addition to his work with the BCCA. “We are thrilled to extend this important program to the hardworking families of the Saratoga backstretch community, who provide a vital service to the racing community.”