NEW HARTFORD, N.Y. — Blooming Pediatric & Family Nurse Practitioners, PLLC, the brainchild of Michal Hovak and Coral Montana, is a new pediatric medical office at 1 Oxford Crossing, Suite 3, in New Hartford. Hovak, a family nurse practitioner, and Montana, a pediatric nurse practitioner, met when both worked for longtime area pediatrician William Fuchs. […]
NEW HARTFORD, N.Y. — Blooming Pediatric & Family Nurse Practitioners, PLLC, the brainchild of Michal Hovak and Coral Montana, is a new pediatric medical office at 1 Oxford Crossing, Suite 3, in New Hartford.
Hovak, a family nurse practitioner, and Montana, a pediatric nurse practitioner, met when both worked for longtime area pediatrician William Fuchs. When Fuchs retired in September, Hovak and Montana got the idea to open their own practice together.
The duo first started working on a business plan and worked with Med-Care Administrators, LLC in Marcy, which provides medical billing and practice-management consulting services. “They have been amazing for us,” Montana notes.
Working with realtor Patricia Virkler of Signature Realty in New Hartford, they began looking for a suitable office location. The space at Oxford Crossing was vacant for several years and had just what they were seeking.
Blooming Pediatrics, which is the shortened name they use for the practice, leases 3,000 square feet from property owner Aaron Harris. Hovak and Montana praised Harris for collaborating with them as they designed their ideal space. “He let us pick everything from the floors to the paint,” Montana notes.
The end result is a bright and cheerful space welcoming to the youngest of patients. The office features two waiting rooms, so ill patients are separated from those who come in for well-child visits, and five exam rooms.
Blooming Pediatrics officially opened on April 18 and the need for its services was already high. In recent months, Hovak notes, three pediatricians in Oneida County retired while a fourth died. “That put close to 1,000 patients out there looking for new providers,” she notes.
The practice has about 500 patients, but Hovak expects that to expand quickly as they recently received word the practice can accept Fidelis Care insurance, a main provider of insurance under the state’s Child Health Plus subsidized program. There were close to 1,000 patients on the practice’s Fidelis waiting list.
“We have room to grow still,” Montana says of the space. Currently, Blooming Pediatrics doesn’t use all the space, and leases out space to Kayla Hajdasz-Cha, a licensed master social worker, and Shelly Studer, a licensed social worker.
Blooming Pediatrics employs four nurses on a part-time or per-diem basis and also works with Mohawk Valley Lactation in Utica to provide a lactation consultant, in addition to Montana who is certified in lactation counseling.
Certifications and professional experience aside, there are a few things that set Blooming Pediatrics apart, Hovak contends. “We both have kids,” she says. “We can share a lot of our experiences.” They also take more time with patients and try to truly listen to the parents of their patients, answer questions, and provide reassurance.
Blooming Pediatrics provides well care, sick care, and immunizations for children from birth to age 21. The practice celebrated its grand opening with a reception and ribbon cutting on May 25 with the Greater Utica Area Chamber of Commerce.