Assembly Resolution No. 274

BY: M. of A. Lemondes

COMMEMORATING the 50th Anniversary of East Hill
Medical Center, Inc. and recognizing its valuable
contributions to the Cayuga and Auburn communities

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to commend those
organizations and individuals who work to serve the health care needs of
citizens of the State of New York; and

WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its
long-standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to
commemorate the 50th Anniversary of East Hill Medical Center, Inc. and
to recognize its valuable contributions to the Cayuga and Auburn
communities; and

WHEREAS, In August of 1970, the Cayuga County Family Planning (CCFP)
office officially opened its doors; a group in 1965 pushed for this to
help families struggling with economic, physical and emotional hardships
due to lack of local resources that would assist them in spacing out the
births of their children; and

WHEREAS, By February of that same year, CCFP received its articles
of incorporation, and became a formal organization; and

WHEREAS, CCFP officially received its tax-exempt status from the IRS
in May of 1975, and was now recognized as a charity and able to receive
grant funding; and

WHEREAS, In January of 1988, CCFP bought a former school gymnasium
on North Fulton Street from St. Mary's Catholic Church; during
construction, pieces of the original structure were used, such as window
blocks and keystones; the building served as headquarters for a decade,
and today, houses Summit Pediatrics and Duckett Family Medicine; and

WHEREAS, In January of 1994, the facility expanded to include an
internal medicine office; it began by treating minor illnesses for
existing patients in late 1992 as it built up to a primary care office
open to the public in early 1994; and

WHEREAS, East Hill Family Medical, Inc. was born in October of 1994,
renamed from the Cayuga County Family Planning Center to demonstrate its
expanded mission of offering primary care to both adults and children;
years later, the family is dropped, and the organization became East
Hill Medical Center to reflect its multiple practices; and

WHEREAS, Funding to expand into primary care services was used to
create a pediatric practice in the North Fulton Street building; this
move was seen as an extension from serving women for reproductive health
to offering care for the whole family; and

WHEREAS, Seeing a growing need for dental services among its
patients, in March of 1995 East Hill identified funding to create a
dental office to serve adults and children; having run out of room in
the North Fulton Street building, originally the dental practice was a

standalone office in a rented space downtown before moving to the
Metcalf building, which they purchased in September of the following
year; and

WHEREAS, East Hill moved its administration team to the new building
in 1997, and later moved its primary care and dental offices, allowing
the pediatric practice to expand in the Fulton Street building; and

WHEREAS, In October of 2003, East Hill used a play-on-words and
created an innovative fundraiser titled "Chair-ity"; artists designed
and painted chairs, which were sold at auction as a fundraiser; over a
few years, this fundraiser benefited the dental office, and was directly
responsible for outfitting the dental office with eight exam rooms; and

WHEREAS, By March of 2010, East Hill Medical Center went digital
with the introduction of an electronic medical record system; record
keeping transitioned from paper to digital in a major step that allowed
for better care, quality tracking and improved billing capabilities; and

WHEREAS, After serving as a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC)
look-alike for four years, East Hill officially earned the certification
of FQHC in June of 2012; and

WHEREAS, In April of 2014, East Hill hosted its first annual
fundraiser called the Amazing Race that set challenges throughout the
community; based on the television show, the fundraiser takes place
within two miles of the Genesee Street building; and

WHEREAS, Administration shifted in September of 2016 to current CEO
& President Keith R. Cuttler, with 27 years of healthcare experience;
one result of this shift was setting the standard of creating the
Exceptional Patient Experience; and

WHEREAS, In August of 2018, East Hill expanded to incorporate
behavioral health services and addiction medicine into primary care, and
later added a psychiatric nurse practitioner to the staff; and

WHEREAS, In March of 2020, East Hill joined the fight against the
coronavirus, first offering telehealth visits virtually, then providing
patients with COVID-19 testing, and later in the year, vaccinating
eligible individuals; the clinical team found adaptive ways to take care
of patients so they could avoid the hospital, leaving those resources
open to residents with severe needs during the pandemic; and

WHEREAS, East Hill partnered with Dr. Adam Duckett in October of
2020, and opened a family practice in the same building as the pediatric
practice; and

WHEREAS, Renovations were made in December of that year to the
Dental Offices, allowing for all eight exam rooms to be fully
operational for the first time in years; each exam room received new
equipment, tools and cabinets to reach state-of-the-art status; and

WHEREAS, Under the able direction of CEO and President Keith R.
Cuttler, East Hill Medical Center remains true to its mission by
presenting a quality treatment space to its patients that allows them to
be served with dignity and respect; and

WHEREAS, East Hill Medical Center, and its expert staff, has had a
long and sustained commitment to the health and welfare of the citizens
of Cayuga and Auburn, and therefore merits the highest commendation of
this Legislative Body; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the 50th Anniversary of East Hill Medical Center, Inc.; and
be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to Keith R. Cuttler, CEO and President, East Hill Medical
Center, Inc.